A Scared New World
by Capstar98
Summary: It's been a few months since the world fell to a mysterious disease that made the dead rise from their graves. Now a group of survivors, led by Tony Stark, are trying to find safety among the madness. That's when they come across a scared kid named Peter Parker. (Aka the zombie apocalypse AU)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I created this story when I looked for zombie apocalypse AUs and discovered they didn't really exist. So I'm filling the void. This might not be the best thing I've ever written, but it does have the most zombies of anything I've ever written.

This world is like the world set up in the Walking Dead. The characters here have none of their superpowers, but all of their personality (as well as I can write, anyways). So remember that when you start reading.

* * *

Tony's head was pounding, and his feet ached as he took one step after another on the black pavement of the road.

Beside him his group walked in silence, their faces identical in their drawn weariness.

Around them, trees moved in the wind, and a few bugs called out to one another. Beyond that, it was silent.

They had been walking for months, going from one place to the next, trying to find food and water. They could never stay in one place long - either there weren't enough supplies, or it wasn't safe. So they kept moving.

Right now, their problem was water. It hadn't rained in a long time, and creeks that normally ran with water were shallow mud pits. They had gotten water where they could, but they wouldn't last much longer on what they had. They needed a fresh source, and were hoping the next town over would provide that.

Suddenly, Clint, who was leading the pack, stopped and held up his fist. Everyone paused behind him. Clint locked eyes with Tony and nodded, and Tony immediately understood. He pulled his knife out from his belt and stepped forwards next to his friend.

"Where?" he said under his breath.

Clint replied just as quietly. "Heard it coming from up right. About two o'clock."

Tony listened, but he couldn't hear anything. Clint had the sharper senses of all of them, which was why he took the front. So sure enough, after another moment something appeared from the trees.

The figure was slouched and ragged, its skin hanging off in weird clumps, its hair tangled and matted. It shuffled forwards, a strange moan coming from its mouth. It used to be a man, and now it was nothing more than a monster. Tony fought back the revulsion he always felt. Somehow, he could never get used to seeing these things. The walkers.

Nevertheless, he stepped forwards, knife held out in front of him. The walker sensed him coming, and turned towards him, groaning, one arm outstretched. The other arm barely hung on by a ribbon of flesh.

Then, in only a few seconds, Tony had grabbed its shoulder, pushed it down, and shoved the knife straight into its skull. The walker collapsed by his feet. He looked around for more, but didn't see any.

When he looked to Clint, the man nodded his agreement. There was only one. For now, anyways. They gestured to the others, and the group moved forwards once more.

* * *

Pepper, Tony's wife, walked ahead of him. She was dragging her feet, her head hung down. Her bright hair spilled around her face. Tony had asked her to cut it - it was safer that way. But she wouldn't let him. She saw it as a connection to who she had been, before everything, and Tony couldn't fault her for wanting to hang on to that.

As he watched, though, Pepper tripped over her feet and landed hard on her knees.

"Pepper!" Tony rushed forwards and knelt beside her, putting one steadying hand on her back. "Are you okay?"

She was shaking her head, and already pushing herself back up. "Fine. I'm fine, Tony."

Tony helped her to her feet, and looked her in the eyes. She looked bone tired, with dark shadows lining her usually bright eyes. Worry wormed its way through Tony's heart. "We can take a break," he said. "Rest for a bit. How's that sound?"

"It's okay," she replied. "I'm fine."

"No, we could all use a break, couldn't we?" Tony glanced over at Rhodey, who was watching from a few feet away. " Couldn't we?"

Rhodey caught on, and said, "Oh, definitely. I'm due for a nap."

"See, Pep? We're all tired."

" No ," Pepper said sharply, brushing off Tony's hand. "We're not stopping."

Tony backed up, hands raised placatingly. "Okay, okay. We'll keep going. Just - we'll take a break later."

She shook her head. "It won't help," she said bitterly.

Tony just looked at her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Okay," he said resignedly.

Pepper turned and started shuffling forwards again. Tony shared a helpless look with Rhodey before the two of them followed her.

Then Clint froze again ahead of them. "There's something coming," he hissed.

Tony raced ahead, and he saw Rhodey pull out his gun and watch the back. Pepper's hand went to the grip of her knife.

"It doesn't sound like a walker," Clint said to Tony once he had gotten close. "The footsteps are too quick. But, I'm not sure."

"What is it then? An animal?" If it was, that was a good sign. That would mean water was nearby. Plus, it would give them a chance for a good meal.

But Clint shook his head. "I don't know. But it might be - look, there!" Fast as a whip, he drew an arrow from his quiver and knocked it in his bow, aiming up ahead and to the left.

Tony's gaze followed, and what he saw made his heart race.

It was a person. An actual, live person.

They hadn't seen another person for weeks. On the road, they'd only seen walkers.

But here was someone alive. They looked worse for wear, but they were definitely alive. The eyes that shot towards them had a desperate spark in them.

And it wasn't just a person — it was a kid. A lanky boy who might've been 14 or 15, with tangled brown hair, a pale face, and sunken cheeks. Blood ran down his temple, and stained his hands.

"Who are you?" Clint called out, bow still raised.

The boy stared at them wide eyed, like a deer caught in headlights. They all stared each other down for a moment, and then quick as a shot, the kid turned and ran back into the trees.

"Hey!" Rhodey cried. "Stop!"

Clint brought his bow down sharply. "Should we follow?" he asked Tony.

"That was — that was a kid," Tony said dumbly.

"Exactly. A kid out here alone? He has to have come from somewhere."

Pepper frowned, anger alighting in her eyes. "Are you suggesting we steal from that boy?"

"No," Clint said. "But maybe whoever he's with has enough to share."

"Clint's right," Rhodey said. "We should follow."

Tony was staring off towards where the kid had disappeared. "Okay," he said finally, turning to look at the group. "Let's go." And before Pepper could offer an indignant reply, he continued quickly, "Even if they don't have anything to share, maybe he's somewhere with water. Or there's a town nearby."

Pepper snapped her mouth shut. "Okay," she said.

Tony held her eyes for a moment before he turned back around. "Clint, lead on."

Clint nodded. "Stay close," he said. "And keep your weapons handy. It'll be easier for things to sneak up on us in the trees."

They did as he said, and followed him down into the brush.

* * *

As they made their way through the trees, every noise made them twitch. They usually travelled on the road because it was a clear path, and, like earlier, they could usually be ready when a walker showed up.

In the woods, the thick trees hid their line of sight, and it was hard to tell what was rustling the leaves — the wind, or a walker's footsteps.

Tony had to admit though, the forest was pretty. Fall was beginning to show itself in the colors of the leaves.

Autumn had been Tony's favorite season. Now, all he could think about was that it meant winter was coming.

At one point they passed a large shed. Thinking the kid might be inside, they looked through the cracks in the boarded up windows. No one was inside, and they noticed the door had been sealed shut from the outside.

They moved on.

Eventually they came upon a large clearing, and ahead they could see structures - stone walls and brick buildings. It looked like the edge of a small town.

They reached the first street, and Tony was struck by how normal it looked.

Sure, it was still empty of people, and leaves and sticks covered the sidewalks and the ground. But he didn't see any broken widows, or collapsed walls. It just looked like a regular New England town, complete with red and orange fall foliage, and running stone walls.

Then they heard noises from down the street.

Tony caught eyes with Clint, and then Rhodey, and the four of them all crept down the road towards the corner.

There were a few businesses there — a hardware store, a bakery, and a pharmacy. There was movement through the windows of the pharmacy, and then someone broke out through the side door.

It was the kid, a backpack slung over his shoulder. He shot them a wide eyed glance before tearing off down the street.

They made to follow, but he actually didn't go far - just down a few blocks and into a one story house.

Tony got his foot in the door right before it closed, and they pushed their way in.

He was met with the business end of a pistol in his face.

Tony flinched back, eyes wide. Holding the gun was a woman, maybe in her late 20s, with fiery red hair. Even through the grime, she was obviously beautiful — although Tony was having a hard time looking away from the gun.

"Whoa," he said. "Look, we're not —"

But he was cut off with voice from behind him.

"Nat?" Clint breathed, his voice laced with desperation and hope and disbelief.

The woman was staring back at him now, similarly transfixed. Her eyes were wide; shocked. Her face was pale, like she'd seen a ghost, and she slowly put the gun away. Then, her expression broke, and she raced forwards with the broken cry, "Clint!"

They knew each other? Tony was incredibly confused, and his mind fought to understand the situation.

Tony stepped back as the two embraced tightly, holding onto each other with desperation, and as if each was supporting the other from falling. Clint's face tucked into the woman's hair, and Tony could hear his ragged breathing.

The moment felt fragile and sacred, and Tony felt like he was intruding.

When they pulled away from each other, they didn't let go, each holding on as if they expected the other to disappear.

"I can't believe this…" Clint said softly, still obviously shocked. "I—"

"You're alive," the woman said, and Tony could see tears gathering in her eyes.

Tony coughed, and inserted himself into the situation. "You, uh… want to introduce us, Clint?"

Clint's face snapped back around, as if he had forgotten the rest of them were there. His expression still held in disbelief, he blinked and said, "I… this is Natasha. She's — she's family. You can trust her."

When Clint failed to say their names, Tiny spoke up. "Nice to meet you, Natasha. I'm Tony, this is Pepper, and over there's Rhodey." As he said the names, he looked beyond, to the back of the room where a figure lay in a couch. The kid stood beside the couch, and watched them from there, his eyes sharp and calculating.

"How is this possible?" Natasha was saying, eyes still soaking in Clint's face. "At the train station I — god, Clint… I thought you were dead."

"There was another way out," Clint replied. "But you were already gone, and — and," he continued over what was probably going to be an apology, "I don't blame you. I never have. I only ever cared that you got out."

She nodded, holding his gaze a second longer before quirking a smile. "God, it's good to see your ugly face."

Clint chuckled, smiling brighter than Tony had ever seen. "Right back at you. But…" he looked around now, as if searching for someone. Then a shadow crossed his face. "Coulson?" He asked quietly, though it seemed like he already knew the answer.

Natasha's face fell. "Gone," she said, her voice hollow. "Wasn't long after we split up, actually. We were getting supplies, and one of them fell through the ceiling on him." She shook her head bitterly, then looked at Clint, her eyes sharp. "I took care of him," she said. "He's not one of them."

Clint's face was carefully composed, and he nodded stiffly. "Good."

Now Natasha's eyes turned on the rest of them, her expression hard and wary. It looked like she was studying them, taking in everything about them in a single look.

A chill ran down Tony's spine. Somehow, he knew this was a woman you didn't want on your bad side.

"What were you doing just busting your way in here?" Natasha said. "Were they following you?" She directed this question at the kid.

"We were following him," Tony said, and at her angered expression, added, "But we don't want any trouble. A kid on his own — we knew he had to be with other people. And we wanted to find out who those people were. And where they were."

"We've been on the road for weeks," Rhodey said. "We were just looking for a place we could maybe rest."

Clint, seeing Natasha's hesitancy, said, "This is who I've been with. Found them not long after I lost you. We've been through a lot together, and they're good people, Nat. You can trust me on this."

She looked back at Clint, and held his gaze for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay. Well, you can trust us, too," she said. Then, at a noise like a whimper from the other side of the room, she turned and stepped away.

In all the excitement, Tony had almost forgotten about the kid. So too, it seemed, had Clint, who faced the corner with wide eyes.

The kid was looking down at a figure on the couch. It was an unconscious woman, with long dark hair that was matted with sweat. Her face was pale as death, and her breath rattled in her lungs. The boy was holding her limp hand tight in his, his expression desperate and frightened.

"Nat," the boy said, and Tony realized it was the first time he'd heard him speak. "What — what do we do? I grabbed what I could from the store, but there wasn't much left, and I don't know what it all does."

"It's okay, Peter. I'll look through what you grabbed. I'm sure there's something that could help." Here, go rinse these rags out again with cold water."

So, the kid's name was Peter.

Peter did as she said, grabbing the towels and running off with them to the next room.

Rhodey was observing the scene warily. "She's sick," he said.

"Oh? How could you tell?" Natasha said sarcastically, not looking up.

"Is she bit?" Rhodey asked sharply.

Natasha fixed him with an icy cold glare. "No," she said firmly.

"Are you sure?"

" Yes ," she bit out.

Pepper cut in. "Sorry, did you say you have water?"

Natasha turned to face Pepper, and her face softened a little. "Yeah, we do," she said. "In the other room. You can have some, if you need it. We have plenty."

"Thank you," Pepper said, her voice filled with relief and gratitude. "We - we haven't seen water in a while."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"In the next room, you said?"

She nodded and waved her hand in the direction Peter had gone.

Tony followed Pepper across the room. Just as they walked through the doorway, Peter pushed past them. Tony locked eyes with the kid for a moment before letting him through, turning to track his movement back to the couch.

Peter carefully laid the cloths across the woman's forehead, pressing them down with the flat of his hand.

Tony thought that she must be his mother. He felt sorry for the kid - the woman looked terrible and sickly, and not far from death's door, if he was being honest.

The next room was the kitchen. There were cups and bowls on the counters, and on the floor were several jugs like the ones for water coolers, filled to the brim.

"Whoa," Pepper said. "She wasn't kidding. This is a stockpile."

"Not much food, though," Tony commented, gesturing towards the several cans in the corner.

"Maybe they've got more somewhere else."

Tony shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe."

They each filled a few cups with water and brought them back into the other room. Pepper brought one to Rhodey, and as Tony handed one to Clint, he pushed the archer back out the front door, saying, "Come with me."

They walked down the front steps, and Clint grabbed the cup from Tony's outstretched hand. They each drank for a moment, sighing at the feel of fresh water in their mouths.

Then Tony said, "So. This… Natasha. Wild redhead, who aimed a gun at me. You say we can trust her?"

Clint nodded quickly. "I've known her for years. We worked together. There's no one I trust more to have my back." He shrugged. "And, to be fair, we did practically break in to their place."

"Is she gonna let us stay, though? I mean, I've seen what they have in the kitchen. They've got plenty of water, but not much food. We'd make what little they have pass a lot quicker."

"But we can also get more for them a lot easier than they could," Clint reasoned. "She won't send us packing."

"Listen," he added, at Tony's doubtful expression. "She's like a sister to me. She wouldn't let me leave if I tried. And after all we've done together, Tony, we're sticking together, too." He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder. "She'll see what kind of people you are soon."

Tony nodded, and a small smile played across his face. "Thanks, Clint."

Clint returned the nod, squeezing Tony's shoulder before letting go.

"This isn't the most defensible spot, though," Tony added. "I'd rather be on higher ground — a second story, at least."

Clint sighed. "You're right. But, Nat doesn't care for people easily. If she's gotten close enough to these people to try and save this woman, she won't leave them. And that woman doesn't look like she'll be moving anytime soon."

"Are we sure she's not bitten?"

"If Nat says she's not, then she's not."

Tony nodded. "Right. Okay. Uh, I'm gonna stand out here for a minute, I think. Just gonna get my bearings."

"Sure," Clint said. "Don't do anything that'd make me worry about you," he added with a wry smile.

Tony watched him walk back into the house, and then turned to watch the fallen leaves play in the wind, sipping his water.

When he woke this morning, it hadn't felt like today would be any different from any of the days they'd had for the last few weeks. And yet somehow, he knew that everything would be different now.

He wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing or not.

And he was scared to find out.

* * *

A/N: Please let me know what you think! This is super fun to write, so there should be more soon.

Also, don't expect this to have a ton of plot - it's just gonna be angsty as hell. I really just wanted to explore how these characters would act in this specific universe.  
Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for your interest, everyone! This chapter didn't turn out exactly how I was expecting, but I'm not mad at it.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The next day was bright, and a chilly wind ran through the street.

They had spent the night on the floor of the main room, just across the room from the sickly woman on the couch. Her son slept on the floor next to her.

Peter hadn't said much to them, and his gaze was still wary. It was clear he didn't totally trust them yet, but he trusted Natasha enough to let them stay there.

He was also obviously protective of his mother, and had given dirty looks to anyone who attempted to come close.

The woman — who's name, as Tony had learned, was May — had woken for a bit at the end of the night, and Natasha had managed to get some water and pills in her. But it didn't look like it had helped much. Tony wondered just how long she had left.

People were awake now, and were wandering quietly around the house. Clint and Natasha were talking quietly out front, Pepper was getting some food together for some kind of breakfast, and Tony and Rhodey were grabbing water from the coolers.

They filled up a few cups, and passed them around. Tony had handed one to Peter, who had glared at his approach, then softened and accepted the water with a mumbled, "Thanks," when he realized Tony's intentions.

Tony and Rhodey explored back into the house, where they found a few more rooms — a bathroom that smelled absolutely terrible, what was once an office space, and a bedroom with a dead walker sprawled on the floor.

"Ugh," Rhodey said when they saw it. "Should we clear it out? This bed is probably better than a couch for that sick lady."

"Not a bad idea, Rhodey. You're a true gentleman, you know that?"

"Oh, shut up and help me."

They wrapped the corpse up in the rug, keeping their shirts over their noses to ward off the smell. Of course, it didn't help much.

Then they opened the window, and pushed the rug outside. It landed in a heap on top of a bush.

With the room clean and the window closed again, the two settled there to talk away from curious ears.

"So, what is this arrangement?" Rhodey asked. "How long are we staying here?"

"Well, it looks like Clint isn't leaving Natasha anytime soon," Tony said. " And Natasha's not leaving that woman and her kid. So we might be here for a bit. But, there's water here, and some food, and its relatively safe."

"I don't like how exposed we are. Feels like things could come at us from any angle."

Tony shook his head. "Yeah, I said that to Clint yesterday. I don't like it either. I'm gonna talk to this lady soon, see if we can try and move this party somewhere else."

"Okay."

"In the meantime, I'm thinking we organize a supply run, and explore this town."

Rhodey nodded. "Sounds good. We can leave after breakfast."

* * *

They did just that.

Except when they announced that they were leaving, they didn't expect for a certain kid to want to come along.

"Yeah, no," Tony said to Peter, shaking his head. "We can handle this one. You stay here."

"Oh, I'm coming," Peter replied, matter of fact.

Tony raised an eyebrow at Natasha. She just stared right back, a knowing glint in her eye.

"What is this, the babysitter's club?" Tony said, turning back to Peter. "You're not coming, kid."

"My name's Peter. And, I am. We've been here a few days, and I know my way around by now. You don't; I'll be your tour guide."

Rhodey shrugged. "Sounds reasonable to me, Tony."

Tony let out a frustrated breath. "Fine," he grumbled. "But I'm not changing any diapers."

"I can take care of myself, thanks," Peter said, pushing past them to the door.

Tony shot a glance at Clint, but it looked like the archer was a few seconds from bursting out laughing. No help there, then.

Resigned, he followed Peter out the door and onto the street, followed by Rhodey and Pepper (Clint was staying behind with Natasha). They each had empty bags slung over their shoulders, ready to be filled with whatever good stuff they should come across.

As they walked down the street, the leaves were disturbed by their footsteps. The wind pushed a lock of hair down into Tony's face, and he brushed it back with his hand. He should probably cut it again soon.

"So," he said, stepping up next to Peter. "You seen a lot of walkers around here?"

Peter shrugged. "Only a couple. This place is pretty small, and I think it was abandoned quick. People just took everything and ran."

"It doesn't look ransacked, though," Rhodey said.

"Maybe it was early enough that people were still civil about it, but late enough that they knew they needed supplies," Pepper offered.

"Whatever it was, this place is actually pretty cleared out," Peter said.

They stepped into what looked like the one block of "downtown" this town had - the same place they had seen Peter run out of the pharmacy.

"Is that why you were so far out yesterday?" Tony asked. "Trying to see what was out there? Let me tell you, there isn't much."

Peter actually looked sheepish. "Yeah, uh... I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention that to Nat. I wasn't supposed to leave the boundaries of the town. But - but that was why I left. There's nothing here!"

"She got you on a leash?" Rhodey asked.

"She's just trying to keep me safe, I guess," Peter replied. "I can't blame her. Took her enough convincing for me to go out on my own. She wanted me to stay with May, but I don't know anything about helping sick people. I can help her better doing this."

They walked into the hardware store. Sure enough, the shelves were practically empty. The only things there were stuff that weren't of any use in their new lives - fertilizer, light bulbs, key chains, and other miscellaneous things.

"I grabbed a saw from here the other day," Peter said, walking down one of the aisles and running a hand on the shelf.

"A saw?" Pepper said.

He shrugged. "You never know."

"Is there any place that does have stuff left in it?" Rhodey asked, picking up a singular screw from the shelf and bringing it up to look at it.

"There is one place I think might have stuff," Peter said. "I just haven't been able to get in there."

Tony gestured to the door. "Show us."

* * *

"Okay, set her down now. Gentle. Gentle," Natasha said.

"Whoops, sorry," Clint replied.

May was settled on the bed now, in the room that Rhodey and Tony had cleared the walker from. Natasha arranged her limbs and pulled the covers up over her.

"Do you… do you think she'll make it?" Clint asked quietly, looking down at the woman. She still didn't look well, despite the pills that she had gotten down the night before.

Natasha tucked a piece of hair behind May's ear. "I don't know," she said. She looked up at Clint. "But I'm not giving up."

"And you shouldn't," Clint replied. "The fact we're both still alive is proof that people don't die as easily as we think."

Natasha smiled. "I'm glad you're not dead," she said.

"I'm glad I'm not dead, too."

She rolled her eyes.

"How'd you meet these two anyways?" Clint asked, leaning up against the wall.

Nat sat down on the edge of the bed. "It was right after… right after Coulson. These two still had a car, but they had stopped to pick up some supplies. We ran into each other. I was in a bad way… hadn't eaten in days."

"I know the feeling," Clint sympathized.

"I know. But - I stole some food from them. And ran off." Nat sighed. "Later, I got cornered by a whole group of them. The walkers. I thought I was done for. Then, May comes driving up with her car, knocking bodies left and right. They picked me up, and we drove off." She huffed a laugh. "They said they just wanted their canned green beans back."

"How long ago was that?"

She shrugged. "It's hard to keep track of time now. But… maybe three months. And a lot's happened since then."

"Believe me, I know," Clint responded. He looked down at the woman in the bed. "What are they like, though? Peter and May?"

Nat stood and moved to the foot of the bed. "Well, they're both funny. Which is impressive, considering how many bodies we see on a daily basis nowadays. Peter's been a little withdrawn lately, but that's just because of how May's doing. He's usually talking your ear off. Plus he's smart." She flashed a smile. "And once I taught him a few things - a good fighter."

"Sounds like a good kid."

"Yeah, he is. And May's a lot like him, which is probably where he gets it from. She's not great with guns, though. Or knives." She crossed her arms. "What's your group like? You say we can trust them?"

Clint quirked his brow. "I've been with them about as long as you've been with May and Peter. We've been through a lot of shit. They're dependable - and good. They know right from wrong. Which is something you can't say about everyone these days."

"Right."

May shifted on the bed. "Peter?" she said horsley.

Nat shifted to be in her line of sight. "Hey, May. It's me - Nat. Peter's out. He'll be back soon."

A weak nod. "Okay."

"You think you can get some water down for me?"

"I can try."

Nat gave her a small smile. "That's the spirit."

* * *

They walked up on what looked like an abandoned clinic. It was two stories, with a blue awning and neon lettering. It was the first place they had seen around with boarded up windows.

Tony walked up and tried the door. It was locked, of course.

"You think I haven't tried that?" Peter said. He pointed up to a second story window. "That's the way in. The problem isn't really getting in."

Rhodey frowned. "Then what is the problem?"

"Um… well, there's about ten walkers in there," Peter replied, a little sheepishly.

"Oh, great," Tony said. "You couldn't have told us that before we crossed town for this?"

"I mean… four versus 10. That's — we could do it."

"If we have a death wish, you mean," Rhodey replied.

"No, listen!" Peter said, a bit anxiously, when they began to turn away. "We need to go in there. There… there could be something there to help May," he finished quietly.

None of them answered for a moment, all looking between each other and Peter.

"Please," Peter implored.

Pepper spoke up. "We could do it," she said. "Ten walkers, all trapped in the same place? We've done that before."

"Yeah, when our lives depended on it, maybe," Tony replied.

"Someone's life does depend on it," Pepper hissed, eyes flashing.

Peter just looked desperately at the building, then back again. "Please," he said again.

Tony looked over at Rhodey, who shrugged, and at Pepper, who was looking at him expectantly. "God, alright!" he said finally. "Just quit it with the puppy dog eyes, okay kid?"

Peter flashed a relieved smile. "Thanks," he said. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony brushed it off with a wave of his hand. "Now, how are we getting in here exactly?"

Peter pointed up again to the second floor window. It was right above the awning. "Through there," he said.

"Can't we just bust down the front?" Rhodey said. "Or go through a window that's not fifteen feet off the ground?"

"We'd have to smash this window to get in," Pepper said. "The sound would draw them all over at once."

"Pepper's right," Tony said. "It'd be better if we could take them out one at a time."

Rhodey sighed, and looked up at the window. "Fine," he said resignedly. "But I'm not crawling up there first."

"I can go first," Peter offered. "It's easier than it looks."

Tony frowned. "You've been up there already?"

"How'd you think I knew there were walkers in there? I'm not psychic."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. Lead on, Macduff."

Peter didn't waste a moment. He went up to the building just under where the roof started, and leapt up to grab the pole that went horizontal across the top. Then he muscled his way on top of the awning until he could get his knees under him, and stood up.

"Oh, yeah," Rhodey said sarcastically. "Easy."

"Come on, Rhodey," Tony replied, stepping up to where Peter had gone up onto the lower roof. "Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Apparently lost - along with my sense of self preservation," Rhodey said dryly.

Tony pulled himself up, and although it was definitely a little more flailing than the kid's ascent had been, he made it up in no time. Then he and Rhodey helped Pepper up, and finally Rhodey himself made it up onto the ledge.

Tony pushed his way over to the window and looked inside. He could see the second floor inside, and already spotted a few roaming walkers. One of them spotted them through the window and turned in their direction. Tony snapped his head back. He knew it wouldn't be long before the rest followed. They needed to move.

"I'll go first," Tony hissed. "Rhodey, you follow. Then Peter, and Pepper you take the back."

There were nods all around.

"I see about three of them in this room," Tony continued. "You guys ready for this?"

"Let's go," Pepper said.

"Alright - on three," Tony said, his hand on the sill, ready to push up the window frame. "One… two…

"Three!"

* * *

Clint stood at the door to the back room, his shoulder leaned up against the frame, and watched in a mixture of sympathy and disgust as May heaved into a bucket Natasha was holding up to her face.

He didn't know this woman, but he wouldn't wish this on anyone. She had been vomiting for a while now, and according to Nat it wasn't exactly a new phenomenon. As far as he knew, she had only had water that day. If she couldn't keep that down, that was a scary sign.

Clint wondered if Peter knew just how bad it was.

Now, he just hovered, unsure of how to help.

A few minutes later, May had settled down again, her face somehow even paler than he'd seen before.

Nat put the bucket down beside the bed and wiped her mouth with her arm before walking over to Clint. She didn't look great either, and suddenly Clint felt a flare of fear. Was this thing contagious? Could Nat be in danger being at May's side all this time?

She went to brush past him into the hall, but he stopped her, a hand on her arm. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly, and maybe a little desperately. "You don't feel sick, do you?"

Nat shook her head. "Only because she was throwing up right next to me. It's not exactly fun catching someone else's vomit in a bucket."

"You don't think you could get sick from her?"

She shot him a look that somehow made him feel ashamed of the question, and shook her arm out of his grip. "If I could, it's too late anyways."

Clint swallowed. "I - I guess. But, I just want you to be safe."

"And I want her to be safe," Nat replied sharply. She walked past him to the main room, and he followed.

"I'm sorry," he said, trying to catch her eye. "I can't help it. I just got you back!"

Clint saw her settle down, and meet his gaze. "I know," she said. "But it's worth it either way." She blinked quickly, like she was trying to push back tears. Clint had to marvel at that. It took a lot for Nat to cry.

"She saved my life," Natasha continued, voice tight. "I have to save hers."

Clint looked at her for a moment, taking in the determined glare in her eyes. There was something else there too, though. It was fear. Fear of loss. He couldn't just stay quiet at that.

"Okay," he said. "I understand."

She nodded.

After a moment, Clint asked, "Does Peter… does he know how bad this is?"

Natasha sighed, and shook her head. "He knows it's bad. I don't know if he knows how bad. I mean, if she keeps up like this… she needs to keep water down, at least. If we don't have some way to get her fluids…"

"I know. She won't have long," he finished.

"I'm scared she won't make it," Nat admitted quietly. "And I'm scared he'll disappear if she doesn't."

Clint frowned. "You think he'd run away?"

She shook her head. "Not run away - I think he'd disappear into himself," she explained. "That who he is would disappear."

"She could still make it," he reminded her.

"I know," she responded. But it didn't sound as confident as before.

* * *

Tony stood back to back with Rhodey. A grotesque hand was reaching out for him, pressing against his chest. Yellow teeth snapped too close to his shoulder.

His arm shot out, and blood spilled down over his hands as his knife sunk into the side of the walker's skull. The creature dropped, and he pulled it out, immediately looking around for the next threat.

They had seen a few walkers inside, and Peter had said that he thought there were about ten in the building.

They didn't expect this. But now there was no turning back.

As soon as they had entered through the window, the creatures seemed to spill out from the walls and head right for them. So they did what they could. They fought back.

Rhodey had picked up a chair from the floor and slammed it down on top of one.

Pepper stabbed her knife through another's eye.

Peter pushed one off of him and to the ground before shoving his foot down on its forehead.

Tony took in the chaos around him, his eyes tracking from one thing to the next. He killed one that was going after Pepper, and the next moment Peter was saving him from a walker who got too close.

His heart raced, and his breath came fast. These moments came too often these days — the moments that felt like you cheated somehow, that you weren't supposed to make it out alive. As they stood together, gathering their breath and their wits, Tony knew they all shared the same thought: that was close.

"Damn, kid," Tony said, sharing a wild look with Peter. "When you come on a supply run you don't fuck around."

Peter's eyes were wide, still looking around for more walkers. He shook his head, and said, "I'm — I'm sorry. I didn't —"

"Is everyone okay?" Pepper said, cutting off the stammered apology.

"I'm good," Rhodey replied, a little out of breath. "I think we're good."

"Why don't we get what we came for," Tony suggested finally, once they were all settled. The others nodded their ascent, and they wandered towards the staircase.

As they went down, they kept their weapons up, senses keyed for any movement. There was one walker at the bottom of the steps, but Rhodey took care of it quickly. Soon, they were looking through shelves and boxes at a veritable treasure hoard of medical supplies.

They filled their bags with as much as they could carry, including IV needles and bags, medicine, suture kits, and bandages.

Now unconcerned about walkers in the building, they broke open the front window and made quick moves back to the house.

They'd be set for quite a while with the supplies they'd found — and some of this was sure to help May. When Peter had held up the IV kit, he'd even had something like hope in his expression.

Tony hoped it was enough.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please let me know your thoughts, and if you have any moments you'd like me to include I just might be able to!


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stood just outside the bedroom door, leaning against the wall as he looked inside. Peter was sitting on the edge of the bed, talking to May in hushed tones. At one point, he smiled, and Tony realized he'd never seen that expression on the kid's face before.

It was all because of May. She was doing much better now, thanks to the supplies they'd gotten from the clinic. The IV had been especially helpful. None of them had known exactly how to set it up, but eventually they got it working, and May had started to get the fluids she so desperately needed. Her face started to get some color back into it, and yesterday she had even kept some food down.

And even though Tony didn't know them very well, he was happy to see it. The world didn't have much mercy nowadays, and it was gratifying to see something good happen for once.

Of course, their problems weren't over. They never seemed to be over.

Before arriving in this little town, their problem had been water. They had plenty of that now, though. Their problem instead was food.

The arrival of four extra people into the house had quickly depleted whatever stores Natasha and Peter had built up - which hadn't been much to begin with. They had planned to go out and get more, but the town was picked clean. They'd found a few things, and Clint had managed to shoot down a few squirrels, but it wouldn't last them long. They'd need to move on, and soon.

And the question remained: should they stay with these new people, or move on their own?

Tony knew that Clint was staying, no matter what the rest of them chose. Natasha was family to him, even more than they had become family to him. Tony was big enough to admit that. But he, Pepper, and Rhodey could push out alone if they chose. It would probably be for the best. Lots of people in a group slowed you down, especially if one of them was sick. Plus, they'd have to find way more supplies than they were used to.

Yet he couldn't help reflexively pushing away from that idea. Somehow, he didn't want to leave any of these new people behind.

But he'd have to talk to the others and see what they thought.

Peter looked up, saw him standing in the doorway, and waved. "Hey, Tony," he said. "Come on in."

Tony hesitated for a second before walking into the room. May's eyes flicked to him, and they seemed more awake than he'd seen them. She was leaning up against the headboard, and could track his movement easily as he entered the space.

"Hey there," Tony said, putting on his airs of confidence. "Nice to officially meet you. I'm Tony. Tony Stark."

May quirked a little smile. "Hi Tony Stark," she said, her voice quiet and tired. "I'm May."

"So I've heard. This little gremlin's told me a bit about you," he replied, gesturing to Peter.

"Hey!" Peter protested. "I'm not a gremlin!"

"It's true," May joked, patting Peter on the arm. "Don't feed him after midnight, it's not pretty."

Tony smiled, glancing at the kid. "I'll keep that in mind."

"No! You can't team up against me - that's not fair!" Peter exclaimed, though he looked more amused than angry.

"Well, the next time you all puke your guts out you can team up against me. How's that?"

Peter crossed his arms and actually pouted. "Fine," he grumbled.

Tony couldn't help it. He laughed. "You're ridiculous," he said.

" You're ridiculous," Peter shot back, but he was smiling now.

"Okay, kids," May said, voice tinted with amusement. "Settle down."

Tony shook his head before saying, "So, you feeling better?"

May nodded. "Yeah. I am, thanks. I'm not sure what I caught, but it feels like I'm on the other side of it now."

"Good. That's good."

There was an awkward pause as none of them knew what to say next.

So Tony let out a last chuckle. "Well, I've got to go find my wife," he said. "But it's good to meet you, May. I'll see you two later."

"See ya," Peter said, offering him one last smile before turning back to May.

Tony walked off, casting a look over his shoulder as he went.

It was time to talk with Pepper and Rhodey. And he knew which side he was going to take.

* * *

Pepper was organizing food in the kitchen when Tony walked in.

She caught his eye, then gestured to the store they had, and said, "This is all we have left. This might last us two days."

Tony just nodded. "I know," he replied. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Is Rhodey around?"

"I think he's out front."

He nodded. "Let's go meet him out there. We've got some decisions to make."

"Okay," Pepper said, curious as to what he was referring. Had something happened? "Are you alright?"

Tony smirked a little and grabbed her hand. "Yeah, I'm fine," he reassured her. "We've just got to figure out our next move." He gave her hand a squeeze and they walked together through the living room, where they saw Clint sitting on the couch, and out the front door.

Rhodey was sitting on the front steps, looking out across the empty street. His head snapped back to them when he heard the door open.

Rhodey pushed himself to his feet. "Hey," he said. "What's up?"

"Apparently we've got a decision to make," Pepper said. They moved a little to the side of the house. "So? What is it, Tony?" she asked.

Tony leaned up against the house. "Well," he said. "You know there's not a lot of food left in there. We're going to have to move soon - get somewhere that we can find more."

"Right," Rhodey agreed.

"The question is," Tony continued, "Do we stay with these people? May won't be ready to move for another few days, at least."

Pepper frowned. "Are you saying we should leave? Without them?"

Tony shook his head. "I'm just… putting it out there. I don't really know which move is the right one, to be honest."

"How come we don't have Clint here for this?" Rhodey asked. "This seems like something he should be a part of."

Tony shrugged. "Well, we know what he's going to do. It's not really a question on his end."

"That's true," agreed Pepper. "He just found Natasha again. He's not leaving her. And from what I've seen she wouldn't leave Peter and May."

"Right," Tony said. "So it's either we stay all together, or the three of us split off."

Pepper could see Rhodey biting the inside of his cheek. "Well, it might be for the best," Rhodey said hesitantly. "You know - to leave. Pulling around another three people would be an adjustment. We wouldn't be able to move as fast. And you guys know - speed is safety."

"But there's strength in numbers, too," Pepper argued, and then added a moment later, softly, "Plus, it's nice to have new people around. I don't… I don't think I want to leave them."

Tony nodded. Pepper thought she could see something like relief in his eyes at what she had said. "I think I'm on your side, Pep," he said. "Strength in numbers. Plus," he added, "It would be hard to leave ol' Legolas behind."

Rhodey chuckled. "Alright. I'm in."

Pepper smiled. They were staying. Their little family had just gotten a bit bigger.

* * *

Clint was sitting on the couch in the living room. He pulled the arrows out from his quiver one at a time, checking them for cracks and sharpening the tips before cleaning them off. He didn't have as many as he'd like. He could usually pull them off of the walkers he put down, but not always.

Natasha walked up to him and chuckled lowly. "Same old Barton," she said, amused.

Clint shrugged. "What can I say? I'm predictable."

She snorted. "At least something is."

He just smiled and turned back to his arrows.

Nat took a seat next to him on the couch, still laughing to herself. "Do you remember that time you shot me in the arm?"

Clint rolled his eyes. "Oh, are you still bringing that up? It was one time. One time!"

"I still say you missed," she teased.

He let out a sound of mock outrage. "Missed? I was aiming right where I wanted to. It's not my fault you were too busy choking that guy to move out of the way."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. " Sure, " she said doubtfully. She picked up an arrow and twisted it around in her hands. "I haven't told anyone what we did," she said eventually, looking back up at him. "Before."

Clint held her gaze for a moment before replying softly, "I haven't either. It feels… separate."

She nodded, a far off look in her eyes. "It seems so far away now. Like a dream."

Clint bit his lip. "Do you think it's better," he asked, "to just leave it behind? Should we forget what it was like before? Or is that too pessimistic?"

"I don't know, honestly," Nat replied. "But I don't want to forget. I just don't want everyone knowing everything. They might not trust us after they learn what we did."

Clint frowned. "It wasn't like it was illegal, Nat."

"Still," she said. "Just… don't mention it, okay?"

"Okay," he acquiesced, still a little confused. "I won't."

"Thanks." Natasha leaned back into the couch, the smirk on her face indicating a change in the conversation. "And thanks for shooting down those squirrels, by the way. It's nice having a weapon for that that doesn't make a ton of sound."

"My bow's been pretty useful," he agreed. Then he paused, catching her eye before saying, "But it won't be enough. Without more food - we can't stay here for much longer."

Natasha sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm hoping we can stay just another couple of days. I want May stronger before we get back on the road. Right now she's too slow."

Clint shook his head. "We might not have the choice," he said regretfully, taking his arrow from Nat and placing it down on the carpet next to the others. "There's nothing left here."

"I get it," Natasha said sharply. "I just… two days, okay? We'll leave in two days."

He bit his lip, and nodded. "Okay. Two days."

Nat stood from the couch, gave him one last look, and walked to the other room, leaving him with his arrows.

* * *

The next day, Tony and May sat on the front steps of the house, watching Peter and Rhodey messing around on the street. The two had connected over the past few days, and now Rhodey was trying to teach Peter some defense moves. The kid was getting easily distracted, though, and wouldn't stop messing around with Rhodey. It was pretty entertaining to watch.

"You look a lot better," Tony said to May.

She smiled. "Feel better, too. It's nice being in the open air again." She turned to face him. "Thanks for busting into that clinic for me, by the way. I heard about it from Nat." She shrugged. "I'm not thrilled Peter was there, but I'm pretty happy to be alive, so that kind of makes things even."

"We were just doing what we could," Tony replied, shaking his head.

"Well, you didn't have to help me. You didn't owe me anything. So take the thank you."

He chuckled. "Will do."

May smiled back, and then shook her head. "Probably just delaying the inevitable, but for now - yeah, I'm glad to be alive."

Tony, paused, and frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I just mean… the world is different now. There's no guarantees any more."

Tony nodded slowly. "That's true," he agreed.

"It just kills me… how unfair it all is." May shook her head. "By all rights Peter should be in school, worrying about homework and whether he'll have a date to homecoming. He shouldn't be worrying about whether or not he'll… live through the day. About what monster lies around the corner." Her face was pained. "He's just a kid."

Tony knew the pain of worrying about the people he loved. But he could only imagine caring for a child in this new world. "There's still hope," he said, with more determination than he had felt before. "Things could still go back to normal. We don't know who could be working on a cure out there."

May just looked at him sadly. "I'm not sure you're right. And even if things do work out… it might already be too late. There's — there's some things you can't unsee."

Tony wasn't sure how to respond to that. After a moment, he said, "Peter… Peter said you came from the city."

"Yeah… we did," she replied quietly.

"Pepper and I used to live there, in Manhattan. We only moved upstate a few months before everything started. But…" he shook his head. "It must have been awful there. I can only imagine."

May's face was strangely blank. "We were lucky to make it out when we did," she said. "If we had stayed any longer… I don't think we would've made it."

Tony glanced over at Peter. "He's a tough kid."

At that, a ghost of a smile crossed her face. "He sure is. Stronger than me."

"Can I ask… what happened to his dad?"

May looked up at him, and Tony was worried he had overstepped. But then she just said simply, "His parents are dead."

"Oh," Tony said lamely. He kicked himself for being so stupid. She wasn't his mother - even Peter called her 'May.' How hadn't he put that together?

"They died a long time ago. When he was a toddler. His father was my husband's brother. My… my husband and I raised him together. Ben." She took a shaky breath, and Tony knew whatever was coming next wasn't good. "He — he was killed when this whole thing started. He was protecting us."

"I'm sorry," Tony said softly. The words didn't feel good enough.

"So am I. But, I guess that's the way the world works now."

"I… I guess you're right."

May shifted in her seat. "Anyway, after that we protected ourselves. We managed to get out with a car, but it didn't last long. So we've been on foot, just… moving."

Tony nodded. "We've been doing the same thing. We've tried to find somewhere to put down roots, but no where's been safe enough."

"Have you lost anyone?"

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "A girl, Wanda. And a man named Jarvis. That was a while ago now. Near the beginning."

"I'm sorry."

A bitter smile played on his lips. "Yeah. Like you said, that's just the way things are now."

"Have you heard anything? About safe places, or things the government might be doing?"

"No," Tony said. "I don't really think there is a government anymore. Besides, Congress would probably be just as productive as walkers as they are as humans."

May chuckled. "True enough."

"What the —" a voice said loudly to their left, and both May and Tony snapped their heads towards the sound, expecting trouble. Instead, Tony had to laugh when he saw Rhodey wondering incredulously at Peter, who was doing a handstand.

As they watched, Peter walked forwards on his hands a few feet before he righted himself and smiled towards May and Tony.

May waved back. "Promise me," she said to Tony, after Peter had looked away again. "If I ever… if I don't end up making it, promise me you'll look after him."

Tony frowned. "May, you don't have to talk like that. That's not gonna happen."

"You know it might. Now, promise."

He looked at her for a moment, and her steely eyes stared right back. "Okay," he said finally. "I promise."

She just nodded, and turned back to watch her nephew. "Good."

* * *

The next day they were off, piled into two old cars that they'd managed to get moving. Natasha and Clint had spent the day before gathering fuel, so they had a decent amount. Hopefully they'd be able to get to the next town before they broke down.

Clint was driving, and Nat was in the passenger seat. May was stretched out in the back, sleeping. The others were in the other car.

Natasha was looking at a map they'd found at the hardware store that was spread out across her lap. She was frowning, though.

"What is it?" Clint asked.

"This map is near useless," she said, frustrated. "If I'm reading it right, we're about to drive off the edge."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Of course. That's just perfect."

"There must be something close by, though. All roads lead somewhere, right?"

"I guess," Clint replied. "Let's hope so anyway."

Natasha rolled her window down, and Clint was curious for a second until he spotted the walker on the side of the road. Nat pulled out her gun and shot the thing down.

"Nice shot," he commented.

She only smirked, and put the gun away again before rolling up the window.

Clint turned back to the road ahead, reveling in twists and turns of the road. It felt good, to be on the move again. And with Natasha there, even though the world was in shambles, things felt right again. He actually felt content.

If only they knew then what waited for them down the road.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter!

This one was really just a bunch of conversations, so it might not have been the most thrilling thing ever. What can I say? I love writing dialogue!  
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think, and watch out for more chapters! I'm so excited for what comes next! (Insert evil laugh here)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hi again! Back with another chapter!

Just something I'd like to mention - I feel like Peter is a little more confidant in this around Tony than he is in the movies. I feel like it makes since here, though, since he never hero-worshiped the guy. Let me know what you think, though. I'm trying to do the characterizations justice in this new world.

* * *

Tony looked around the car at the others in there with him. Pepper was sitting in the passenger seat, her eyes directed out the window. In the back, Rhodey was picking dirt out from underneath his fingernails, and Peter was sleeping, his face pressed against the glass.

What a group they had here.

They'd been on the road for two days now, but they really hadn't gone far. The distance they'd gone might have taken them only a few hours if the world was normal. The problem was that they often had to stop and move things out of the road - like big branches, or other cars that had broken down. Not to mention the occasional walker that would wander in.

Sure enough, Tony spotted another branch lying across the road up ahead, and slowed down to a stop. The other car stopped next to them, and Tony caught Clint's eye through the window before he shut off the engine.

Peter snapped awake in the backseat and rubbed his eyes. "Are we stopping again?" he said drowsily.

Tony opened the door and stepped out. "Yep. There's another tree out there. Now let's get out and push."

They all loaded out of the car and headed towards what blocked the road. It looked like the better half of a pine tree.

Each person found a spot along the tree and, on the count of three, they started pushing it forwards. The branches scraped against the asphalt, and the bark bit into Tony's hands.

When it was finally out of the way, Tony looked up from his sappy hands to see a walker approaching from the side. Natasha was closest to it, but she was distracted and hadn't seen it yet.

"Natasha, watch out!" Tony said. "Behind you!"

In the next moment, an arrow protruded from the walker's eye, and it collapsed onto the road.

Natasha walked up, retrieved his arrow, and rolled the thing out of the way.

"Thanks," Nat said to Clint, handing him back the arrow. He only nodded.

The others were heading back to the cars, but Tony called out, "Hey, Clint. Come here for a second."

They grouped up a little beyond the big branch they'd just moved.

"Are we close?" Tony asked. "I don't have to tell you we're getting a little hungry around here."

They'd run out of food they day they'd struck out on the road, and none of them had had anything to each since. It was wearing them all down, and was especially draining for May, who desperately needed to recoup her losses from being sick.

Clint shrugged. "It's hard to say, honestly. The map we have is pretty useless for us. But I think we have to be close, now."

"Oh, you think so?" Tony replied, rather snappily.

Clint frowned. "Yeah, I do. Don't take your frustration out on me. I can't control this any more than you can."

Tony huffed and crossed his arms. "I just want to get to the next town already."

"Then let's go! We're not gonna get there any sooner by keeping up with this conversation."

"Geez, alright, Legolas," Tony said, turning back towards the cars. "You take point this time."

"Sure," Clint responded, heading for his car.

As Tony walked up, he saw Peter leaning up against the driver's side door. "Can I drive?" he asked Tony excitedly.

Tony shot him an incredulous look. "Have you ever even driven before?"

"Uh…" Peter hesitated. "I have with May in, like, parking lots and stuff? Before all this started."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that's not gonna cut it for now, kid." He moved Peter out of the way of the door, and opened it.

"Can you maybe teach me?" Peter asked quickly, his voice hopeful.

Tony turned around and looked at him. Peter was looking up at him with an eager expression.

After a moment, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "If we ever have the time, sure."

Peter's smile was beaming. "Yes!" He ran around to the backseat and jumped in the car.

As Tony got in the car he chuckled to himself, shaking his head. That kid was something else.

He turned the key in the ignition, and they got moving once more.

* * *

"So…" Peter said at one point, breaking the silence they'd been in. "What's everyone's favorite food?"

Rhodey groaned. "Don't talk about food right now. I can't take it."

"Sorry," Peter replied, shrugging. "It's kind of on my mind."

"I wonder why," Tony said.

"Okay, then," Peter continued. "Favorite TV show?"

"There's no TV anymore, kid," Tony said, shooting a look back at him.

Peter frowned. "That doesn't mean there wasn't. Or won't ever be again."

"Okay, then," Pepper offered. "My favorite is… I think it'd be the _X-Files_."

"Ooh," Peter said. "Good choice. I think I'd go with _Supernatural_. That was a good one. I don't know if it's my _favorite, _but it's good."

"Really, Peter?" Rhodey said, chuckling. "Doesn't that hit a little close to home, now?"

"Well, I don't think they ever fought _walkers," _Peter said. "But I guess you're right."

"God, I wish there was something on the radio," Tony grumbled, cutting them off.

Rhodey shot Peter an amused glance. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pete? Should we… sing?"

"Oh, Jesus."

Peter laughed. "Ha, yes! I think I've got a good one."

"What is it?" Rhodey asked.

Peter leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Ah… yeah, that is good," Rhodey smiled. "Okay, ready? - one, two, three -

Their voices filled the car: "_Rock me mama like a wagon wheel -" _

"My ears are bleeding. I swear to god -"

"_Rock me mama any way you feel -" _

"I will turn this car around!"

_"Hey, mama rock me!" _

Rhodey and Peter erupted into laughter, and, despite Tony's hunger and his annoyance, he couldn't help but start laughing along.

* * *

The next time they stopped, Tony couldn't see why. Clint's car ahead was blocking his view. Was it another tree down? Walkers?

But then he heard it - the grumble of an engine that wasn't theirs.

He rolled down the window and craned his neck out to look. Clint and Natasha had stepped out of the car, their weapons drawn and pointed ahead.

"Stay in the car, Peter," Tony said roughly, and opened the door quick. He heard Pepper and Rhodey do the same beside him.

From his new position he could see them - three guys on motorcycles, their guns out and drawn.

"We're not lookin' for trouble," one of them, a man with a jean jacket and a large beard, was saying.

"Then why are you pointing guns at us?" Natasha asked, her voice cold and dangerous.

"We might ask the same thing of you," the guy in front said. He had a deep, gravelly voice, and dirt streaked across his face.

Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper walked up behind Clint and Natasha, glaring at the bikers.

Tony noticed then that Peter had decided to join them, and he shot the kid a dirty look. "Back to the car," he hissed.

Peter just kept coming, and Tony ground his teeth in frustration.

The biker in front was speaking again. "Why don't we just settle down, then? We put our weapons down, you put down yours. Deal?"

"Deal," Clint growled.

Slowly, each person put down their guns and stowed them away.

"Now," said the guy in front, careful and slow. "We're looking for food. You guys happen to happen to have any luck with that?"

"No," Clint said sharply. "We don't have any."

"Seems to be a common problem. Why don't we work together, then?" It was a reasonable offer, but something in the guy's voice made it seem like this wasn't someone they wanted to be around for long.

"We're good," Tony called out. "Thanks, but no thanks."

The man's eyes narrowed, and he looked between his companions before looking forwards again. "Fine. We'll just let you pass, then. No big deal."

"Right," Tony said, staring down the guy. "No big deal."

"Go on, then," the man said, gesturing to the road ahead. "Ladies first."

Tony glared at him, but it wasn't worth fighting this guy. With luck, they'd never see these people again.

Clint and Natasha slowly got back into their car, and Tony and the others followed suit, their eyes darting back to the bikers every few moments. The cars started again, and they pulled past the motorcycles, Tony sharing one last look with the leader.

When they were finally past, he said scathingly, "What a bunch of assholes."

"They didn't seem very nice," Peter said from the backseat.

Tony snapped his head to look at him. "No, they didn't. Which is why I told you to stay in the car. Why didn't you listen?"

Peter glowered. "I can take care of myself," he said firmly.

"Yeah, okay," Tony replied, turning his gaze back to the road.

Rhodey was looking out the back, watching the bikers disappear as they turned around a bend. "They're gone," he said.

"Good," Tony said. "I hope it stays that way."

* * *

It turned out that Clint's earlier intuition was right, because they pulled into the next town only another hour later.

This town was larger than the last, and looked like it had been looted and destroyed. Glass windows were blown in, walls had fallen down, and the street was littered with trash.

They pulled up next to what looked like a convenience store and got out of the cars.

Rhodey opened the trunk and passed out empty bags and weapons. Tony grabbed a crow bar, and he saw Peter grab the screw driver.

Natasha was talking to May, who was going to stay behind in the car while they went inside. She still wasn't strong enough to be counted on to defend herself properly.

Pepper was standing in front of the car, her knife in her hand. Tony walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.

"You think there's walkers in there?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I just heard something from in there. There's gotta be."

"Well, this looks like our best chance around. We've just got to stick close to each other."

She nodded.

Tony squeezed her shoulder before moving over to where Clint was standing with Peter.

"I just think you should stay out here," Clint was saying. "Keep your aunt safe."

Peter was scowling. "I can take care of myself. I can be useful."

"I'm not saying you can't. I'm just saying someone should stay out here with her."

"Nat," Peter called out. Natasha looked up and over at him. "Tell him I'm good with stuff like this. Or - Tony! You saw me the other day."

"Don't bring me into this," Tony said, hands raised.

Natasha walked up to him and said firmly, "Everyone here knows you can take care of yourself, Peter. But for this one we need you out here, with May. Okay? Now, stop whining."

Peter huffed, and then looked a little ashamed. "Okay," he agreed finally. He walked over to May, and Tony saw her put a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright," Clint said, focusing everyone. "Let's get in there. Looks like walkers for sure, so we'll go in slow, and make sure to keep the exit clear."

"Let's just hope there's something in there," Pepper said. "And that it hasn't been picked clean."

"If it doesn't look worth it, we can turn around," Natasha said. "But I've got a good feeling about this one."

Tony smiled. "Let's go shopping."

* * *

The place was lit through the windows by the sunlight, but it was dim and dusty inside.

They crept into the store, their weapons held up in front of them, and their eyes and ears on edge for movement.

Sure enough, Tony heard a familiar moan, and a walker shuffled out of the shadows, its eyes locked on them. It's neck was slashed clean open, like someone had tried to cut it off but hadn't quite succeeded.

And behind him walked five more.

They jumped into action.

Tony strode forwards, his crowbar gripped tightly in his hand. And as soon as he was close enough, he swung. And swung. And swung again.

The heavy metal bar crushed through skull and brain, the dark blood spattering backwards onto him.

The walker fell, and he kept bashing it until he was sure it was dead.

Beside Tony, Natasha was facing off against another walker, and she pushed it off of her before her knife ended up in its ear. Rhodey had a bat in his hands, and was taking care of another. Clint was facing two at once, an arrow in his hand as he stabbed at their eyes. Pepper had her knife in her hand, and was slashing and stabbing as best she could.

Tony saw another one creeping up behind her, and rushed over, his heart pounding in his ears. "Pepper, move!" He slammed the tip of the crow bar into its skull, and it cracked the bone. The walker fell, taking the crow bar with it.

Just in time for another walker to come out from behind a shelf.

Tony wrestled the crow bar out of the last walker's skull, cursing as it wouldn't come free. The new one came closer and closer, and he still couldn't get his weapon free. Finally, as it was within two feet of him, Tony got his crow bar up and out. He was preparing himself to swing when an arrow whizzed past his ear and stuck in the creatures skull.

Breathing heavily, Tony nodded his thanks to Clint, and moved on.

But when he looked around, he saw that there were none left. Just the five of them, panting from exertion and looking around wildly.

"Everybody okay?" Rhodey asked.

"I think we're good," Tony said. "Keep your eyes out for more, but let's check this place out."

"I think I see some cans over there," Pepper said, walking over to the right.

"I'll go with you," Tony said.

"Hold on," Natasha said. She had her knife out in front of her again and stepped forward to a walker who'd just shown themselves. It was over in a moment, and the walker fell to the ground.

"I'll take this side," Clint said. "Nat, you and Rhodey take the center."

Tony caught up with Pepper, who was loading a few cans into her bag. "God, this is good," he said happily, picking up one of the cans. "I never thought I'd be so happy about canned green beans."

Pepper chuckled softly. "Before all this I doubt you'd ever even seen a can of anything."

"Hey!" Tony said indignantly. "If I'd never seen a can, how did I eat in college?"

"Maybe your personal chef?"

He shrugged. "Okay, you've got me there."

Pepper walked further down the aisle. It was mostly picked clean, but there were a few odds and ends. She picked up some kind of stuffed creature and threw it at him.

Tony tried to dodge, but it still bounced off his chest. He smiled as he caught it, and tried to catch Pepper's eye.

His smile fell when he saw her expression, and heard her say suddenly, "Tony, behind you!"

Tony spun, the stuffed animal falling to the floor, his crow bar coming up. Approaching down the aisle were two walkers, their clothing ragged and bloody, their eyes vacant.

When they came close, Tony pushed one away. It stumbled backwards, giving him enough time to slam the other across the face. He kept hitting until it was down, but tripped as he pulled the crowbar out of its head.

He hit the linoleum floor hard, skidding backwards. The next walker tripped over the body of the first and landed on top of him.

With no room to swing, he pushed against the shoulders of the thing, its mouth snapping and gurgling. Tony tried to move, but there wasn't much he could do.

Luckily there was Pepper to the rescue.

Her knife came down hard, blood sprayed, and Tony watched as the creature stilled in his arms. He pushed it off of him in disgust, and scrambled to his hands and knees, breathing hard. "Thanks, honey," he managed.

Pepper offered her hand and pulled him up. "Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded weakly. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's just get this stuff and get out of here."

"I'm with you on that one."

They walked past rotting food and dusty corners and shoved whatever they could into their bags, not worrying about what it was. They could assess how useful it was later.

They ran into Clint in the back of the store.

"You okay, Tony?" Clint asked. "You've got blood all over your face."

Tony brought a hand up and wiped his cheek. Sure enough, his fingers came back red. He hadn't even realized. "Yeah, I'm good," he said. "Just met some more walkers back there."

"I saw a few more, too," Clint said. "This place is crawling with them."

"Yeah, I say we get out of here. We've gotten everything we could from our section." Pepper said.

"Okay. Just give me one more minute. I think I see something good over there," Clint replied.

They watched him walk off into the gloomy shelves in the back, and come back holding something triumphantly in his hand.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

"Maraschino cherries!" Clint said excitedly, showing them the can.

Pepper chuckled at him. "Alright. Good find. Now, let's get out of here."

"Agreed."

They met Rhodey and Natasha at the front of the store. Each of them had items loaded into their own bags, and were looking more cheerful than Tony had seen them recently.

"This was a good spot to check," Natasha said. "People must have been avoiding it because of all the walkers."

"Yeah, only we would be stupid enough to charge this place," Tony said.

They walked towards the door, the sunlight now harsh and bright after the dim dark of the store.

"Do you - what the fuck?" Clint snapped suddenly, moving to grab an arrow from his quiver.

Beside him, Nat whipped her gun from its holster and pointed it ahead of them.

What was going on? Tony couldn't see ahead of him, the sun was too bright.

"Now let's everybody stay calm, okay?" A strange and yet somehow familiar voice said.

Tony blinked as his eyes adjusted to the sunlight, and when he saw what was happening, his heart rate doubled. He gripped his crowbar tight, but he didn't have anything long range. He wished he did.

It was those men they had seen earlier on the road.

And two of them had their hands tight on Peter and May, with pistols pointed straight at their temples.

* * *

A/N: *Gasp*

Leave a comment with your thoughts below! I love hearing from y'all!


	5. Chapter 5

"Everybody calm down. We can deal with this without anybody getting hurt."

_Yeah, right, _Tony thought.

The leader of the group of bikers was standing between the two men holding Peter and May, his arms spread wide. "Let's just talk this through like civilized folks, alright?"

Peter was struggling in his captor's grasp, trying to wiggle out of the man's grip. The guy pushed the muzzle of the gun into Peter's forehead, and Tony saw the kid wince. "Stop fuckin' squirming, kid. Unless you want a bullet in your head."

Peter looked furious, but he stopped struggling. His chest heaved as he looked across the parking lot at them.

Tony clutched the crowbar tighter in his fist. "There's nothing civilized about this, asshole," he spat. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"The name's David. Thanks for asking."

"Yeah, not what I meant, dickhead."

'David' glowered at him. "I'd keep your trap shut, old man. Unless you want your friends here to be hurt."

"What do you want," Natasha bit out, cutting off what would have been an indignant reply by Tony.

David shrugged. "We're hungry, is all. And we just want whatever you've got there. That's not so hard, right?"

Tony ground his teeth. This was the kind of guy who _enjoyed _the apocalypse. Had probably no money or anything of worth or character to his name before, but now that the world had gone to shit, his miserable personality was an asset. The injustice of it all made him want to spit.

"What, you can't get your own food?" Rhodey asked, his bat held up in front of him.

"We'd rather not risk our tails against the dead unless we have to," David replied. "And you've gone and done all the dirty work for us." He gestured to the bags on their shoulders. "Now, hand the food over, and we'll hand over your friends. It's as simple as that."

"Don't do it!" Peter said, struggling again.

The guy holding him cracked the butt of his gun against Peter's head, and he cried out. "I said stay put, twerp!"

"Peter!" May cried, trying to twist away. The man behind her just tightened his grip.

David shot Peter a glance. "Don't try to be a hero here, kid," he said, shaking his head. "Now, come on, people. Let's get a move on."

Tony was about to call the guy an asshole again when he saw Clint glower, bite a curse, and lower his bow.

Natasha shot him a glance like she was going to protest, but after she caught his eye she lowered her gun as well.

Tony looked over at Pepper incredulously. Were they really about to give in to these clowns?

Pepper didn't meet his eyes, though - she was still looking over at Peter and May, her eyes wide.

"Fine," Clint said gruffly. "Take it." He slung his bag off of his back and tossed it onto the pavement in front of him. Cans rattled inside.

David smiled. "Good choice," he said. "Are your friends gonna follow suit?"

Tony caught Clint's eye, but the anger he was sure showed on his face wasn't swaying the archer's resolve.

"Just do it," Clint said to him. "It's not worth it."

Tony let out an angry breath through his nose. After a moment, though, he slowly took off his bag and threw it away from himself. The others did the same beside him.

"Great. Now, drop your weapons, and back up against the wall there for me, huh?" David said, gesturing with his gun to the building behind them.

The five of them slowly put their weapons on the ground before shuffling backwards until their backs pressed up against the brick of the store's walls. Then David went up and grabbed the bags. He tossed a couple closer to his friends, and put the others over his shoulder.

"Pleasure doing business with you, folks," he said. "Because I'm a gentleman, I'll let you keep your guns, and your - arrows." Then he walked over to where their cars were parked, and with one last glance at them, shot holes in their tires.

"Are you fucking serious?" Tony yelled, angry and incredulous. "Really?"

"Can't have you all following us, now can we?" David said.

"God damn - Fuckin -" Tony grit his teeth.

Natasha called out, "Now, let them go!"

David climbed onto his motorcycle. "Yeah, alright. Let 'em loose, boys."

The other two men did as they were told, and pushed Peter and May down to the ground before picking up the other bags and rushing to their own bikes. The sounds of the engines split through the air, and they sped off, leaves rushing around them on the road.

Clint and Natasha raced forwards, Clint going for his bow, and Natasha running towards Peter and May.

Clint aimed, but as Tony came up beside him, he lowered it again, his mouth twisted in frustration. "Damn it," he cursed. They were already too far away.

"What the hell was that?" Tony asked him, waving his arms around him. "Why didn't you do something?"

Clint shot him a glare. "It wasn't worth it," he said firmly.

Tony let out an indignant noise. "I've seen you make impossible shots, Clint. You couldn't pull that off here?"

"No," Clint said angrily. "I don't think I could've. I could've saved one of them, but maybe not both. It wasn't worth it," he said again.

Tony's nostrils flared. "Great. Well, now we're back where we started, and that whole run was for nothing. _And _he fucked up the cars!" He ran a hand through his hair. "Jesus Christ."

"It's okay, Tony," Pepper said. "We'll figure it out."

He looked over at her, and the look on her face made him take a deep, steadying breath. "Okay," he said. "Sorry. That just really made my blood boil."

"Hopefully those dicks get what's coming to 'em," Rhodey said, picking up his bat from the ground and balancing it on his shoulder.

"Not likely," Tony said bitterly. "But a guy can dream."

He looked over across the parking lot, and saw Natasha helping May to her feet. Peter was pushing himself up off the ground.

Tony started walking over, and winced when he saw that there was a good amount of blood running down Peter's face from where he'd been hit with the gun.

"You okay, kid?" he asked.

Peter looked up at him, his eyes a little dazed. A hand went to his forehead, and he stared at it when it came back red. He nodded absently. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm - I'm good."

"You're a terrible liar," Tony replied, shaking his head.

"Peter!" May said desperately, and suddenly the kid was wrapped in a hug. Peter returned the gesture, holding onto his aunt tight.

Then she pushed back, and put a gentle hand on his forehead. "Oh, Peter. Your head!"

"I'm fine," Peter said reassuringly. "It's nothing. Are - are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Peter," she replied. "But let's clean up that blood. Go sit down, I'll find something to wipe it off."

Rhodey was over by the cars, looking into one of the trunks. "They didn't take anything from the trunk!" he said.

"Well, there wasn't any food in there," Tony said. Then he remembered. "But - we have the stuff from the clinic! Rhodey, grab the first aid stuff!"

"Oh, right!" Rhodey said. He pulled out the bag of supplies and brought it over to them.

May took it from his hands and started looking around inside, pulling out a few things and putting them on the ground next to where Peter was sitting.

Peter was touching the wound on his head, and wincing.

"Don't mess with it," May said sharply.

Peter dropped his hand to his side.

It was obvious that May had some medical experience, because she took care of Peter's forehead like a pro. Although she was obviously shaken by the experience they'd just had, and her face was pale, her hands were steady as they wiped away blood and cleaned the wound.

"Guys, over there," said Rhodey suddenly, and his tone made Tony's head snap up. He looked around and saw Rhodey was pointing down the street, where two walkers were making their way towards them.

"I've got it," Clint said, walking a few paces and aiming an arrow in their direction. Two shots later, the walkers were down, and Clint was moving over to collect the arrows.

Tony turned his attention back to May, who had just taped on the last of the gauze.

"There you go," she told Peter. "Don't pull that off, okay? We'll look at it later."

Tony left their side and walked back over to where Pepper was standing, Rhodey moving with him.

"Well, today's been fun, hasn't it?" Tony said, crossing his arms. "We're pretty screwed."

"What's our next move?" Rhodey asked. "Find another car?"

Pepper was pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Well, we need food. We already haven't eaten for two days. I'm worried about how long May can keep up like this."

"Should we go back in?" Tony said, gesturing to the storefront.

"No, we picked that place clean," said Rhodey, shaking his head. "There's nothing good left in there."

"You know what I'm mad about?"

The three of them turned and saw Clint coming towards them.

"They took my maraschino cherries!" Clint finished.

"Yeah, that's the tragedy in all of this," Tony said dryly.

"Well, there must be something else in this town," Clint continued. "We'll just have to get looking."

Tony saw Pepper looking across the parking lot, and turned his head to see May and Peter sitting on the ground, Natasha standing next to them. Now that May had finished cleaning up Peter's head, Tony noticed that she really didn't look well. She seemed pale and shaky. They were all hungry, but the lack of energy really seemed to be hitting her.

"I think we should find some place to hide out," Pepper said. "That way May can relax, and the rest of us can go out and search without worrying about her."

Rhodey nodded. "That's a good idea."

"Well, it better be close," Tony said. "I'm not liking our odds of finding a car out here."

"There's a few houses down the street," Clint said. "They might have food - or at least a good place to lie down."

"Sounds good," Pepper said. "I'll grab whatever else is in the car. Tony, come with me."

Tony raised his eyebrow, but followed her over. "What is it?" he said, when they were over by the cars.

"Just drink some water, okay?"

He frowned. "Okay… is that it?"

"You're just really tense right now," Pepper replied. "Loosen up, okay? The last thing we need is a shouting match."

He was about to reply when she tugged him down for a kiss. He couldn't help melting a little bit, and brought his hand up to cup her cheek.

Pepper pulled back and passed him one of the water jugs, a wry smile on her face.

Tony chuckled as he grabbed it from her. "You really know how to pull my strings, don't you?"

"It's a gift."

He raised an eyebrow suggestively. "Maybe the house we hole up in will have room just for us," he said.

"You should hope so," Pepper replied. "Now help me with the rest of this stuff."

* * *

A little later they had gathered themselves together and made their way down the street towards the houses that Clint had seen.

Clint had his bow in hand, ready for anything to pop out.

He was frustrated with their situation, but he'd learned long ago to be flexible when these kinds of things happened, and to see the positives. At least none of them had been hurt. May and Peter were both alright.

He did wish he could've put an arrow in David's face, but you couldn't always get what you wanted. He just hoped they never ran across those guys again. He'd rather face a walker any day than someone like that. At least walkers were predictable.

Natasha spoke up from beside him. "No one blames you, you know. Or if they do, they shouldn't. You made the right choice."

Clint looked over at her and nodded. "I know. Even with both of us aiming for them, there wasn't enough of a guarantee."

Nat nodded. "I'm not sure I could've made a clean shot anyways. They were standing too close to May and Peter. I might've shot one of them instead."

"Exactly. This is the best we could've hoped for. Even if it sucks," he added.

"Well, maybe we'll finally run across some luck."

Clint chuckled. "Come on, now. Don't jinx us."

They slowed as the group stopped in front of the closest house. It was a nice place - two stories with white siding and a front porch.

"Alright, let's clear this house," Tony said. "Clint - Rhodey - come on in with me."

"I'll come, too," Peter chimed in.

"Sure," Clint cut in before Tony could speak, not wanting a fight to start with everyone as short on patience as they were. "Just watch your back."

"Be careful, Peter," May said, lowering herself to the curb. Natasha went to sit next to her, and offered her some water.

They walked up the steps onto the porch, pulling out their weapons as they went. Rhodey peeked in the window, and Tony looked through the glass on the front door. When he tried the knob and it was locked, Tony looked to Clint, and only nodded.

Clint chuckled to himself, but a moment later he had kicked the door in and they all stepped carefully inside.

It was dim inside, but they could still see from the sunlight coming through the windows. It looked undisturbed - there was nothing knocked over, or destroyed. That was promising. A set of stairs started in front of them and went up.

They split up, Tony and Rhodey taking the downstairs and Peter and Clint going up.

"Call if you need anything," Clint said to them softly.

Rhodey nodded to him, and disappeared behind a corner.

Clint walked first up the stairs, with Peter behind him. The kid had his knife out in his hand, and was looking around, eyes wide.

"You take that side," Clint whispered to him, pointing down the hall to the right. "Be careful."

A nod, and Peter walked away from him slowly, tense and vigilant. Before Clint walked away he saw the kid push open a door and walk inside.

Clint went the other direction, his ears and eyes keyed for movement. Even though they were brainless, walkers still managed to find the darkest places to hide themselves, and it was important to stay aware.

In all the rooms he checked, though, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. It looked like a regular house. Maybe one that had been abandoned and had gotten a little dusty, but still pretty normal. Cute accessories sat on bookshelves, and the bathroom had rubber duckies in the tub. There were pictures on the walls of a smiling family - two little girls, a mom and a dad, and even a dog.

And no walkers.

Clint made his way back to the staircase, and looked around for Peter. He wasn't there, and he didn't hear him moving around, either. Was he still checking his side? He should have been done by now - there were only two doors on the right.

Clint frowned. Something wasn't right about this. Was Peter in danger?

Then his ears, searching for any sound, picked up a strange gurgled noise.

Clint's eyes widened, and he readied his bow again as he strode quickly across the hall. The room the noise was coming from was the one he'd seen Peter go into, and the door was still half open.

He pushed it open the rest of the way, and looked around wildly for the threat. What he saw made his heart stop in his chest, and he slowly lowered his bow.

The room looked like a master bedroom. Peter was there, alright - and the strange noise he'd heard was the kid puking his guts up onto the carpet.

Because beyond him, on the big king sized bed, were four bodies lined up next to each other. Two little girls, a mom, and a dad. Each with a bullet hole in their temple.

Clint swallowed roughly, anger rising inside of him. They had - this family - the parents - they had _killed _themselves, and killed their kids who were too young to know better, rather than face the world.

He wondered if the girls had been scared. If they knew what was happening when their parents brought them in here to die.

He was fighting back the urge to vomit himself.

Clint steeled himself and walked up to Peter, who was bent over, still heaving on the floor. He put a hand on the kid's shoulder. Peter flinched back until he realized who it was, and quickly stood and stepped back from the puddle of vomit on the floor. He hadn't had much food in his system to begin with, so there wasn't much there.

"Let's get out of here," Clint said to him roughly.

Peter wiped a hand over his mouth before he nodded, not meeting Clint's eyes.

They went back the way they came, the silence of the house somehow stronger than it was as they'd come up the stairs. As they left, Clint closed the door to the bedroom and kicked off the handle. Hopefully no one would have to see that again.

Tony and Rhodey were waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Clint noticed that they had a few cans of something in their hands.

"Is it clear up there?" Rhodey asked.

Tony was looking at Peter, taking in his shaken expression. "What happened?"

Clint glanced at Peter, then back at Tony. "We don't want to be here. Trust me. Let's go across the street."

Tony frowned. "What is it? What -" he cut off as Clint shook his head at him meaningfully.

Peter just kept walking until he was out the front door, not looking at any of them.

"I'll tell you later," Clint hissed to Tony as he passed, headed for the open air himself.

He didn't want to be in that house another second. The more he was in it, the more it felt like a tomb.

* * *

An hour later they were getting settled in a different house. The place was clear from top to bottom. There'd been one walker in the bathroom, but they just took care of it and pushed it out the back door.

The place looked like it had been looted at some point, but there were still some things in the kitchen, and combined with the few cans he and Rhodey had found in the last house, they were able to put together something resembling a dinner.

Even with the horrifying stuff he'd heard about the dead family Peter and Clint had seen, Tony was starving. His meal of beans, two ways - green and black - was gone in minutes, and he was left unsatisfied. If anything, the food just reminded him of how hungry he really was. But he supposed it was better than nothing, and his body needed the fuel. They'd find more food tomorrow.

Peter was only pushing the beans around in his bowl, looking down into with a drawn expression.

Tony didn't blame him. He was selfishly glad that he and Rhodey had searched the downstairs, and he hadn't had to see the horror in that bedroom. They already saw enough gruesome things these days.

As he looked around, Tony noticed that everyone seemed to be down and quiet. After the day they'd had, it was to be expected. But suddenly, he couldn't stand it anymore. There had to be something that would turn the mood around.

Tony stood abruptly from the couch he was sitting on. Faces turned towards him questioningly, but he only said, "I'll be right back," and wandered away from the room.

He strode through the rooms on the ground floor, his eyes peeled for something in particular. Something every house like this surely owned. He opened a few cabinets, looked under the table, and then - there!

Tony picked up his prize in two hands, a smile spreading over his face. This was gonna be good.

"Monopoly!" he said loudly as he entered the sitting room again. He held up the box for everyone to see. "We're playing it!"

Tony was happy to see a few chuckles and smiles.

"Do we have to?" Rhodey asked, a longsuffering look on his face.

Peter, on the other hand, had a grin slowly forming on his face. "I love that game!" he said excitedly. "I don't even know when the last time we played a game was."

"Well, we're playing one now," Tony replied happily. "Everyone has to - no exceptions. Team up if you have to."

"Can I play with you?" Peter asked him.

Tony shrugged, and chuckled. "Sure. Here's our piece."

"The money bag? Really?"

The others were starting to move around him, and the energy picked up. "Fine. I call Nat on my team!" Rhodey said.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Rhodey said, looking around defensively. "That girl is ruthless. And I'm playing to win!"

"Alright," Natasha laughed. "I'm in."

As everyone settled down to play, Tony caught May's eye. She gave him a smile, and he nodded back with his own.

It might've been the apocalypse, and they might've just had the worst day in a long time.

But they could push their problems off until the morning.

* * *

A/N: I really didn't plan for this story to go this direction. I didn't even plan for it to be this long. Originally it was going to be a one shot, but it's gotten a life of its own, and I'm having so much fun with it.

There's plenty more coming down the line - I've got twists on twists planned, and I think y'all are gonna be pretty happy about the next one ;)  
As always, let me know your thoughts in comments!


	6. Chapter 6

The morning came bright and crisp, with the sun shining through the windows onto the floor where they were all sleeping together. They'd thought about splitting up and going to different rooms, but everyone was hesitant with the day they'd had. Instead, they'd slept next to each other on the living room floor.

Tony was in the kitchen now, looking out the window onto the street. The wind had picked up again today, blowing leaves from the trees. They'd have to find warmer clothes soon.

He, Rhodey, Clint, and Natasha were set to head out on a food run in about an hour. Tony had asked to leave sooner, but the others had discovered that the plumbing was still working in this house, and were taking turns in the shower. The water tower in this town must have still been full.

Tony turned when he heard a noise from the doorway, and saw May walking in. She was looking much better than yesterday, probably thanks to last night's dinner and a good rest.

She picked up a cup and filled it with water from the sink before leaning up against the counter. "Morning," she said. "You're not gonna take a shower?"

Tony shrugged. "I'll take one later. There's no use if we're just going to be covered in walker blood again."

"True enough," May replied.

"You look better," Tony commented. "How are you feeling?"

May gave a thin smile. "Still not my best," she said. "But a lot better. Thanks."

Tony nodded.

"It's been hard," she continued with a sigh, "To be sick. I feel like a real burden."

Tony frowned, shook his head. "It's not like you can help it."

"I know. But I can't help feeling guilty about it, either. Hopefully I'll start being more useful again soon."

"I'm sure you will."

They sat in silence for a moment, May sipping her water. It only felt slightly awkward.

Tony was about to say something and leave the room to find Pepper, but he stopped when May said, "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" he asked.

"For helping with Peter," she replied.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Uh, you're welcome?" he said. "I mean, I don't feel like I've done much."

She shrugged. "From where I'm looking, you have. Helping doesn't have to mean anything big. Sometimes support looks like a lot of smaller things."

"Okay," Tony said hesitantly. He wasn't fully comfortable with the praise.

"You're good with him," she continued. "And I think he looks up to you."

For some reason he recoiled at that. "He shouldn't," he said sharply. "I'm not that kind of man."

"It's not something you can really control," May replied, looking a bit amused. "I'd take it as a compliment."

"I'm not a good person," Tony argued. "I don't want - he shouldn't be thinking that."

May frowned then. "We all have to do bad things nowadays. That doesn't mean we're not good people."

He shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"I think it is." She pushed off the counter and walked to the door. "And if it counts, I don't think you're a bad man. We wouldn't be here with you if you were."

With that, she walked out, not giving Tony the chance to say anything else.

Tony crossed his arms and bit his lip, looking down at the ground. He wasn't sure what to think about what May had just said. He liked the kid, sure. But he didn't want to be a role model. Peter shouldn't be looking at what he did and thinking he was doing anything right. After all, he'd done so many things wrong in his life.

He sighed and pushed the thoughts away. It wouldn't do him any good to ponder it. At least he wasn't the only role model in Peter's life. He had May - a woman who might not have been physically powerful, but was up there with Pepper as one of the strongest people he'd ever met. As long as Peter had her, he'd be okay.

With that thought, he left the kitchen as well, hoping to find Pepper before he left with the others for the run.

* * *

Natasha had a soft smile on her face as she rubbed her hair dry with a towel. She hadn't been this clean in weeks, and it felt so good. She hoped that they were able to stay at this house for a while longer - and she didn't see any reason why they couldn't at the moment. Time would tell, though, whether this place was defensible or not.

Clint stepped around the corner into the living room, his own hair damp and his arrows over his shoulder. He looked ready to leave.

"Tony's getting antsy," he said with an eyeroll. "Can you be ready to leave soon?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just let me get my stuff together."

Clint collapsed onto the couch. "Take your time, honestly. It's hilarious seeing Tony worked up."

Nat chuckled. "You're incorrigible."

"Yup," he replied happily. "Please kill me if I ever start being reasonable and _boring." _

"Same here. I couldn't live with the shame."

Clint was looking at his bow now, checking it for wear. "Do you know what kind of ammo you have left?"

She sighed and crossed her arms. "Not as much as I'd like. We should keep an eye out for that today. Although I doubt we'll find much in this town."

Clint quirked an eyebrow. "What, in rural New England? There were as many redneck gun toters out here as there were in Alabama. I'm sure we'll find something."

"Okay, if you say so," Nat replied with a chuckle.

"I do say so. I spent enough time travelling around here as a kid, and met a fair share of those rednecks."

She shook her head. "I'm sure you did. After all, who else goes to see the circus besides rednecks?"

Clint looked at her in mock offence. "Excuse me, the circus is a high class affair, ma'am. Don't you go bashing it."

"Then how come I've never seen it?" she countered.

Clint cocked his head. "Maybe because you're not high class."

Nat shrugged. "Touche." She gave a chuckle. "I'm gonna go get my things together. Don't get eaten by a lion while I'm gone, circus boy."

* * *

Tony found Pepper bathroom, getting ready to take a shower.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Pepper said, laughing. "What, do you just walk in on anybody?"

"Uh, yeah," Tony replied. "It's kind of my thing, if you didn't know."

"Huh. I thought you were a weirdo. It's good to have that confirmed." She raised her eyebrows. "Now, what - are you getting in with me?"

"Sounds nice," Tony said. "But we're about to leave. Food run."

Pepper nodded. "Right."

"I just wanted to say goodbye before we left. You know, in case I die or anything like that."

"I love how optimistic you are."

Tony shrugged. "Another one of my finer qualities, of which I have many."

"Yeah, okay," Pepper replied, amused. "Well, I'm about to clean off a few weeks of dirt, so if you'll excuse me…"

He chuckled. "See you later, Pep."

"Have fun," she replied, slipping off her pants.

"Without you?" Tony said. "Impossible."

Pepper rolled her eyes with a smile. "Oh, shut up you. And get out of here."

He gave her one last teasing smile before doing just as she said.

* * *

Unfortunately for them, the main streets of this town were not as empty as those of the last. No people in sight, but there were dozens of walkers roaming around once they got past the edge of the neighborhood.

They picked their way carefully, weapons held high as they ran from one alley to the next, trying to avoid main roads. Whenever a walker crossed their path, they cut it down.

Speaking of which, Clint saw a walker stepping in front of them now. At the sound of their footsteps, the walker turned. It used to be a young woman, by the looks of it, with long brown hair. Probably pretty before she'd started decomposing.

Natasha planted a boot in the creature's chest, knocking it down before shoving her knife into its skull.

It didn't help to think of walkers as people. You could mourn who they used to be, but it was important to never forget what they had become. It had been hard, in the beginning, to make that adjustment. And Clint had even killed lots of people before this evil virus had swept through the world. He hadn't made a habit of killing innocent people, though. He had known where to draw the line, damn what his superiors had told him. But now mercy was impossible - when those who used to be innocent were now going after your flesh.

They pressed their backs up against a brick wall, and Rhodey peeked his head around the corner to take a look at the next street.

He spun back, his face firm. "It's not looking good," he hissed. "I see a convenience store, but there's a whole swarm of them out on the street. I'm not sure we can get past."

"Let me have a look," Clint said.

Rhodey nodded, and they traded places.

But sure enough, when Clint took a look for himself, it didn't look achievable. There were about 30 walkers out in front of the convenience store, milling about and groaning.

He bit his lip and thought for a moment, trying to see a way around. "We could try going around the back," he suggested to the others. "Maybe wrap around the block."

Natasha shrugged. "I guess it's worth a shot."

"Sure," Tony said. "I wouldn't keep your hopes up, though."

"I never do," Clint replied, an eyebrow raised. "Now let's go."

And with that they turned and raced back down the alley, footsteps tapping on the concrete.

* * *

Pepper had her hair wrapped in a towel, and had changed into a pair of clothes she'd found in the closet. It was a little unsettling that the owner of the sweater she wore was probably dead (or at least half dead), but it was soft and cozy, and in it she felt more human than she had in quite a while.

She wasn't sure how long they'd get to camp out in this house, but she hoped they could stay for a while. It was rare that they found someplace like this - defensible, but that felt like a home. And there was _running water _here. That was a luxury in itself.

It would have to come down to whether or not there was food. If there wasn't, they'd have to be moving on. She hoped Tony and the others were successful in town that day.

It was almost scary how normal this situation was at this point. And that she actually felt relaxed in it.

They were staying in a stranger's house, with no resources - and at the moment, no food. And out on the streets, undead people were wandering around eating people. There was no government, no community - and the only people she could imagine trusting were the ones in their little group.

Yet she didn't blink an eye. How things had changed in just a few months.

Pepper stepped into the living room, pulling the towel off her head and draping it over a chair.

May was sitting on the couch, leaning back and reading a book.

Pepper took a seat next to her. "What are you reading?" she asked.

May looked up at her, and gave her a small smile. "Hey, Pepper." She turned the book to show off the cover. "It's _The Silver Chair. _I found it on the bookshelf over there. It was one of my favorites when I was a kid."

"That's a _Narnia _book, right?" Pepper said, leaning back into the cushions. "I don't think I ever read that one."

May nodded. "It's the fourth in the series, I think." She quirked her lips. "To be honest, I haven't read the other ones. I've only read this one."

"Oh, really?" Pepper chuckled. "Started in the middle, did you?"

May shrugged. "I never do seem to get into things the normal way," she joked. "My life with Peter started in the middle, too."

"How old was he?" Pepped asked her. "When you adopted him?"

"Oh… five? Yeah, he was five."

"I bet that was a handful," she said.

May laughed. "Yeah, it was something. Peter was a pretty good kid, though. He still is. We were lucky that way."

Pepper smiled. "I can see that. And I can see where he gets it from," she added.

"I can't really take much of the credit," May replied, waving her hand. "You'd have to thank my husband for that one."

Pepper caught her eye. "I'm… I'm sorry. That you lost him. I couldn't imagine - I mean, if I lost Tony…" she shook her head, lost for words.

May just nodded, looking down at the book in her lap. "It hasn't been easy. I guess it's lucky running for your life doesn't give you much time to grieve. If I stopped to think about it too long I think I'd go insane."

Pepper hesitated for a moment before she said, "How has Peter been? With all of it?"

May sighed. "He's stronger than me, that's for sure," she replied. "I just hope he'll be alright, after I'm gone."

Pepper frowned at that, a little alarmed. "What do you mean? You're not dying. Don't you feel better?"

"Yeah, I do. That's not what I meant."

"What are you saying, then?" she asked, leaning towards May.

"I just…" May bit her lip. "I think it's inevitable, you know? I'm - I'm not the kind of person who survives something like this."

Pepper struggled for words. "You… you can't talk like that, though. It can't be good to think that way. You can't… give up."

"I'm holding on for Peter," May said, her voice tight. "If I didn't have him, I think I'd already be gone." She swallowed. "But I know I can't keep going forever. I'm not made for this."

Pepper reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "You have us, now," she said, looking straight into May's eyes. "Okay? You can lean on us. We'll keep you both safe. Both of you."

May gave her a shaky smile. "Thank you, Pepper. Sorry I'm so depressing."

Pepper smiled back. "Well, you have pretty good reason. Just… don't think you're alone in this. Because you're not."

May nodded, and Pepper pulled back. "I'll leave you to your book," Pepper said.

"Could you," May added as Pepper stood from the couch. "Could you find Peter? He told me he was going to explore the house, but I haven't seen him for a while now."

"Sure," Pepper said. "I'll bring him back and maybe we can play a round of Monopoly. How's that?"

"That's good."

"Okay. I'll be back with him in a minute."

Pepper walked out of the room, throwing May one last glance over her shoulder as she passed through the door. May was looking down at her book again, fingering one of the pages. But somehow, Pepper didn't think she was reading.

* * *

"Shit," Clint cursed, looking over at the back door to the convenience store. There were still a few too many walkers crowding the way for it to be comfortable.

Tony was studying the scene to his left. "I think we can make it," he said, casting Clint a glance.

"What are you, stupid?" Rhodey hissed. "There's gotta be ten of them right there."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, _and _, we can take 'em."

"Natasha, what are you thinking?" Clint asked.

She was biting her lip, her knife held fast in her hand. She looked between the walkers, Clint, and back again. "We can do it," Nat said finally. "It'll be worth it, too. We know that where there are walkers, people don't like to look. There's more chance there'll be food in there."

Clint sighed. "Alright," he agreed. "Let's do it."

"Y'all are crazy," Rhodey said with a shake of his head. "Why do I still stick around again?"

"Because you're just as crazy as we are," Tony shot back, eyebrow raised. "Now, let's go. Follow me."

Tony shot off from the alley, and Clint and the others weren't far behind. At the sound of their approaching footsteps, the walkers turned towards them, their eyes hooded and vacant.

They cut into the crowd, knives slashing, arrows whizzing and bat flying. The walkers fell to the ground around them. At one point Clint grabbed an arrow from the skull of one he'd just shot, and stabbed another with it. He saw Natasha twisting and fighting beside him, with Tony in front and Rhodey behind.

Eventually, they stood among the bodies, lungs heaving, with a clear path to the door.

Clint twisted the handle, and mercifully it was unlocked. He threw the door open, ready for something to be on the other side, but there was nothing there. Just the shadows from inside the store.

It was cool inside, and dust particles shifted through the air as they made their way inside, looking down the aisles for any lurking walkers.

Clint could see all the way down one aisle to the front of the store, where light was illuminating it through the windows. He could see the swarm of walkers out there, wandering in circles, each drawn to the sounds of the others.

But it didn't look like the place had been infiltrated. There were no open windows or doors that he could see. They'd have to keep their eyes open, but it seemed like the place was secure.

"Grab what you can," Clint said softly. "Rhodey, watch the door."

Rhodey nodded and stood facing the exit, looking around to make sure their way out stayed clear.

Clint, Natasha and Tony raced around, pushing food into the bags they'd brought. Clint found tins of soup, boxes of pasta, and even a bag of chips. Canned peaches and bagged trail mix were in the next aisle over.

If none of this stuff was spoiled, they could be set for a while. His mouth almost watered with the thought of eating some of these treats. The beans they'd had for dinner the day before were enough to tide them over, but his stomach was rumbling again.

Clint was so lost in thought that he almost dropped the bag in shock when a crashing sound filled the quiet space.

His head snapped up, and he saw with alarm that the front window had been busted in. The walkers out front must have noticed they were inside, and pressed against the window until it gave in. Now they were spilling inside.

Clint raced to the back of the store, the bag held tight in his fist. "Run, run!" he hissed to the others. They raced after him towards Rhodey and the door.

Rhodey held the door open for them, and they ran out into the open air. There were other walkers wrapping around the back now, too, drawn to the sound.

Clint's eyes darted around, searching for an exit.

"There!" Natasha said, pointing off to the right. There was an open path next to the dumpsters. Without a second thought, they ran for it, cutting down any walkers that managed to get in their way.

They burst into the next street, which was mercifully more empty of walkers, but their footsteps didn't slow. They didn't stop running until they were three more blocks down.

Finally, Clint thought they were far enough, and he held up a hand for them to slow down. They just walked now, their breaths coming fast and short, sweat trickling down their brows despite the chill wind.

Of course, that's when a pair of men walked quickly around the next corner, stopping short when they saw the group.

Clint and the others paused, and Clint drew his bow. "Don't come closer," he snapped.

They lost their food the first time around. That wouldn't be happening again, damn it. They weren't going to take any chances.

One of the men, a guy with dark brown hair, raised up a gun, but the other just raised his hands. It looked like he didn't have a firearm.

"Whoa, whoa," the man with his hands up said, his eyes wide. "Hold on. We're not looking for trouble."

"You better not be," Tony growled.

The man looked over his shoulder, and back again. He looked tense. "We have to move from here," he said. "Just let us pass. We don't want anything from you."

"What's going on?" Rhodey said, frowning and attempting to see what was behind the pair.

"What's going on," the man said stiffly, "Is that there's a whole herd of the dead headed this way. They're right behind us."

"What?"

Both men were stepping forwards now. "We need to move. And you can either move with us, or get swept up. It's your choice."

The man with the gun had yet to speak, but his aim shifted as he stepped forwards. Clint thought he was going to put the gun down, but instead was shocked to see his finger go to the trigger.

And before he could react, the sound of the weapon firing exploded through the street.

* * *

Pepper found Peter upstairs in one of the bedrooms. He was looking through the closet, picking up toys. When she walked up to him, he had a LEGO piece in his hand.

"Hey, Peter," she said.

He looked up at her. "Hi," he replied, wrapping his hand around the LEGO. "What's up?"

"Your aunt's looking for you," she said. "And I was thinking we could play a round of Monopoly while we wait. What do you think?"

Peter pushed himself to his feet. "Oh, sorry. I kind of got caught up in all this stuff. I guess I lost track of time."

"No worries," Pepper said, helping him up. "I think she's just bored, really," she joked. "She's started reading an old kids book."

Peter chuckled at that. "May loves reading. She used to say she wanted to write a book, actually, but she never had time with her job."

"What did she do for a living?" Pepper asked him.

"She was a nurse. A good one, too."

"I'm sure she was," Pepper said, leading him to the door.

Peter cast her a glance as they walked. "What did you used to do?"

Pepper chuckled to herself. "Well," she said. "Most of the time I worked as the head of a company - one that Tony started. But I also did a lot of work that wasn't technically my job. I was kind of a workaholic," she told him, smirking a little.

Peter nodded. "That sounds pretty cool, though. I wonder…" he paused before continuing, "I wonder what I would have done. If the world didn't… you know."

"What did you want to do?" Pepper asked.

Peter shrugged. "I don't really know. I just loved building things, and working with computers. So, probably something with that, I guess."

Pepper smiled at him. "Sounds like you would have fit in well at Stark Industries."

"Is that your company?"

"Yup," Pepper said. "And if the world ever figures itself out, I'm sure you could get a job there."

Peter smiled at her. "Thanks, Pepper. I don't think that's gonna happen, though."

"You never know," she reminded him.

"I guess," he replied noncommittally.

They reached the stairs and started heading down.

"Anyway," Pepper continued, pushing past the bit of awkward silence that had risen. "Monopoly awaits. Let's get that game going."

"Sounds good," Peter said happily. "I'll grab the box."

* * *

Clint spun when he heard the sound of a body dropping behind him.

But despite his expectations, he didn't see one of his friends bleeding out on the ground. Instead, a walker that had crept up on them was down, a neat hole through its forehead.

Clint's gaze snapped back towards the men, his bow down by his side.

"Jesus Christ!" Tony swore. "Warn us next time, will you?"

The guy with the gun just raised his eyebrows at them and lowered his weapon.

And that's when Clint saw it, and his eyes widened.

The guys hadn't been messing around when they said it was coming - _the herd _. They came around the corner, at least a dozen walkers at first, but he could see the shadows of many more behind them.

"Run," Natasha said quietly beside him. "I think we should run."

"Go!" Tony yelled. "This way!"

They were running again, this time with the pair of men following them down the street, and a swarm of walkers behind them.

But they didn't get far. Tony stuttered to a stop at the front as they turned a corner to see another group of walkers.

"Back!" said Natasha. "Quick!"

They spun around, but they only saw more walkers. More than they could take on their own. It seemed like wherever they tried to go, there was something in the way.

Clint spotted a storefront. It looked like a bar, but through the windows it at least looked clear of walkers. "In here!" he said, pushing open the door and gesturing the others inside. When the last of them were in, he slipped inside and pulled the door closed. "Pass me that chair!" he said quickly to Natasha.

Nat grabbed a chair from the nearest table and brought it over to him.

Clint took it and shoved it up underneath the doorknob in an attempt to keep the door closed to the walkers.

Tony and Rhodey were searching the back of the bar, looking for the back room. Tony called out that he'd found the door, and they all wove through the tables to get to it. Clint was the last in again, and he closed the door behind them.

Clint heard the door burst open in the front room, and rushed to look around the back room for options.

One of the men they'd met, the one without the gun, pulled open the back door and looked outside into the alleyway. Then he turned back around and said, "I see a way out. Let's go!"

Clint was about to say they should be careful when he heard the sounds of walkers scratching on the door to the back room. There was no time to be careful. Instead, he ran after the others into the open air.

The walkers hadn't found their way back there yet, apparently, probably because it was being blocked by the row of buildings in front. The way was clear.

So from there they sprinted for their lives, fleeing from the horde of walkers behind them.

It took a while, but they eventually made it back to the row of houses where they'd camped out the night before. They paused on the corner, chests heaving.

"Jesus, that was close," Tony gasped, one hand over his stomach and the other gripping hard to the strap of the bag over his shoulder.

Clint looked at the two men they'd run into, who were both fighting for breath beside them. He wasn't sure what to tell them. He was hesitant to invite them into the house - they didn't know who these people were, and it was dangerous to trust strangers. They couldn't risk losing the food they'd found.

On the other hand, though, his gut was telling him that they could be trusted. And his gut didn't often lie - he'd learned that the hard way. Plus, they were obviously well practiced at getting around walkers, and the guy with the gun was a good shot.

Still catching his breath, Clint stepped over to the two of them, looking them over. They looked back warily.

"Looks like we've gotta get out of town," Clint said to them. "You two need a ride?"

They looked between each other, but before either could say anything, Tony spoke up.

"Hold on, there," he said, walking up to Clint with his hand up. "We don't know these guys. They could be murderers or something."

"If they were," Natasha said, "I think they would have tried to shoot us down when we stopped them in the street."

"I don't know," Tony said. "This could be a huge mistake."

The man without the gun spoke up, his voice level. "I think we can help each other out here," he said. "You want to get out of town? Well, we know the way."

"What do you mean?" Clint asked.

"There's walkers blocking almost every road out," the man said. "The herd we saw is only part of a bigger group."

"Holy shit," Rhodey said under his breath.

"Yeah," the man said. "It's not pretty."

"But there is a way out?" Natasha asked.

The man nodded. "We can show you."

Tony nodded towards the other man; the one with the gun. "And what's he got to say?" he asked. "Mr. Sound of Silence?"

"You've got food and weapons," the guy responded in a low voice. "And we know the way. That sounds like a good deal to me."

Clint turned around and looked between everyone. He met each person's eyes - first Nat, then Rhodey, and finally Tony.

When each of them had nodded their agreement, Clint faced the two men again. "Alright," he said. "It's a deal. But if we see anything strange from you two, it's off."

"Right back at you," the man with dark hair said.

"Yeah," Tony said dryly. "Wonderful. I love teaming up with people you have to threaten."

"Ignore him," Rhodey said. "He gets cranky."

Tony predictably let out a sound of objection. "That's rich, coming from you."

"_ Anyway _," Clint said, casting a glare at Tony and Rhodey, "There's a few other people in our group. They're in that house there. But I'm thinking we should move quick. I don't like the sound of being trapped in this town."

"Alright," the man with lighter hair said, taking a breath. "Well… the name's Steve. And this here is Bucky."

Clint looked between the two men. He hoped he'd made the right choice here. But he just nodded and said to them, "Welcome to the team."

* * *

A/N: Enter Cap and Bucky, stage right!  
I'm not sure how this chapter turned out, so let me know how I did! I'm so excited to get these two into the story, though. But watch out - there's troubled waters ahead!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N:

_And_ we're back! Sorry I've been gone so long, but y'all know how it is with the holidays. I'm excited to be getting back into this story, and I hope you're all excited to see it, too.

But since it was so long ago...

Last time on A Scared New World:

Most of our brave crew set out to find supplies in town, while Pepper, May, and Peter recovered in the house they found to stay in. While they were out, the group faced danger, but got out with the food that they desperately needed. Then a chance encounter with some new faces alerted them to the danger that was headed their way...

Haha maybe reread the chapter. I had to XD.

Enjoy!

* * *

"Uh… who - Tony, who are these people?" Pepper asked as the group of them tramped through the door. Her hands were on her hips. "What's going on?"

Tony rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. "Well, we kind of picked up some hitchhikers. Also… we might need to get the hell out of here."

Steve stepped forwards, hand outstretched. "Hi. Steve Rodgers," he said. "And that's Bucky."

Pepper looked over at Tony. He just shrugged.

"Hi," she said slowly, reaching out to shake. "Pepper Potts."

Nat, Clint, and Rhodey were already bustling through the house, picking up their supplies and shoving them away.

"Peter!" Nat called out, looking around for him. "May!"

"They're upstairs," Pepper supplied. Nat nodded and ran off to get them. "What - can someone explain what the hell is going on?"

Tony walked up to her. "It doesn't look good out there, Pep. There's a whole herd of walkers coming into town. We've got to get out in front of it, or we're gonna be overwhelmed."

Pepper frowned, confused. "Can't we just… wait it out?" she asked.

"No can do, ma'am," Steve replied, arms crossed in front of himself. "This herd is huge. It's not worth the risk."

Pepper looked back over at Steve and Bucky. "And how did you two…"

"We ran into them in town," Clint said from across the room. "If it wasn't for them we would have wandered right into that herd."

Pepper nodded slowly, obviously still processing. "Right."

"Yeah, I'm not sure I'm into it either," Tony said to her. "New people and all. But - factor of circumstance, I guess."

"There seems to be a lot of that going around," Pepper replied dryly.

"You know we can hear you," Steve pointed out.

Tony gave them a saccharine smile. "Oh, I know. We don't mind."

"God, I'm tired of this," Pepper said bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest. "The constant moving. And I know there's no use complaining, but that doesn't change how I feel."

"I know, Pep," Tony said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "We'll find the right place eventually."

She looked at him, her gaze sharp and sad. "You don't know that."

He sighed. "No. I don't."

Pepper rubbed a hand quickly against her eye. "Sorry. I just - sorry. I'm tired."

"Don't apologize," Tony told her. "Remember? Because of all the dumb shit I've done you get like a million freebies."

Pepper rolled her eyes and smiled. "Fine, I take it back."

"I do wish I'd taken that shower, now though," Tony said wistfully. "Who knows when we'll be able to get another one."

"Yeah, my nose wishes you'd done it, too," Pepper said.

"Are y'all gonna help us pack up, or what?" Rhodey said, annoyed. He had just walked back into the room from the kitchen and his arms were full.

"Not like there's much to pack, really," Tony retorted. "Everything we just got is already in bags."

There were footsteps on the stairs, and Tony turned to see Nat coming back down, followed by Peter and May.

"I guess we're flying the coop, then?" May said, looking resigned.

"Unfortunately," Pepper replied. "You got everything that's yours?"

May quirked a smile and put a hand on Peter's head. "Yup."

Peter rolled his eyes and shrugged her off, bemused. "So who are you?" he asked of the two men lingering by the door.

They looked up. "Uh, I'm Steve."

"Bucky."

Peter nodded, considering them. "Cool. I'm Peter."

"Nice to meet you, kid," Steve said.

Tony turned to Clint as Peter and the others continued chatting.

"So, we don't have transportation," he said. "Did you notice any cars on the street?"

"I saw a couple," Clint said, "But they looked pretty torn up. It's always possible there's one in someone's garage, though."

"We should go and look. We're not gonna make it very far without wheels."

Clint nodded. "That's for sure. Let's go now. I'll go tell Nat where we're going."

"You two talking about a car?"

"Jesus," Tony jumped and looked over his shoulder to see Bucky. God, they should put a bell on this guy. "Oh. What, do you guys have a car you're not telling us about?"

"No," Bucky said, "I just wouldn't bother with a car. The roads are gonna be clogged with walkers by now. The only way out of here is through the woods."

"Seriously?" Tony said incredulously. "There are no good roads out of this place?"

"The herd is huge. There's no way."

"I guess there really was only that one road into town," Clint reasoned.

Tony let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright. I guess we really better get moving, then."

Clint turned to face the room. "Anybody not ready to go?" he called out loudly.

A room of faces stared back at him.

Clint looked back at Tony. "Alright then," he said. "Let's move."

* * *

They had been moving for a few hours when they took their first break.

They had entered the woods behind the house they were staying in, and had kept on from there. Clint wanted to keep moving, since it felt like they were in a race against time to make it away from the herd. But for May's sake, they needed to stop. She was still recovering, after all.

It didn't look like May was resting, though. Instead, she was rustling through one of the bags, pulling out gauze and tape from their medical supplies.

May stepped up to Peter and put her hand on his forehead, picking away at the dirty bandage there. Peter winced as she peeled it away. It still looked bloody, but better than it had before.

May cleaned the site with some water, and replaced the bandage with fresh gauze.

Peter squeezed her hand after she'd finished. "Thanks, May," he said to her.

She smiled and nodded back at him, and it was only then that she took a seat and drank some water for herself.

Clint turned sharply when he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he saw that it was Nat, he gave a little smile.

"Jumpy, are we?" she said teasingly.

"Don't scare me like that," he told her. "One of these days I'll end up shooting you with an arrow."

"Oh, I doubt it," Nat said easily. "You'd never be fast enough for that."

Clint rolled his eyes. "I'm not the only jumpy one, anyway. Remember when you punched me in the face after I tried to surprise you for your birthday?"

"Hey, I warned you not to surprise me. That was your own fault."

"I thought you were exaggerating!" he chuckled. "I guess I learned my lesson."

Nat nodded, then glanced at the woods around them. "Where are we headed, exactly? I saw you talking to Steve earlier."

"Just North-West, for now," Clint said. "There's a big swath of forest out here, but we're headed for a town on the other side of it that should be out of the way of this herd. Hopefully, anyway."

Nat shuddered. "It's creepy how they group up like that. It's like a swarm."

Clint sympathized. "Every time I think I've gotten used to them, they find some new way to just…" he struggled for the words.

"I know," Nat said. "You… want some water? I'll grab you some."

He shook his head. "No, I'm good. You get a drink, though."

Nat nodded and walked off to grab a bottle from someone.

Clint looked around the group, and his focus landed on Rhodey and Bucky, who were talking together a few feet to his right.

"You were in the military?" Rhodey was saying. "What branch?"

"Me and Steve were both in the Army," Bucky replied. "107th infantry. You?"

"Air Force. I served in Afghanistan."

"We were in Germany for a while. Then deployed to Iraq." Bucky shook his head. "Good to have another friendly face around here."

"Yeah, for real," Rhodey said.

They continued talking, and Clint's focus shifted to Pepper and Tony, who were standing together across from him. Their heads were close together, and as Clint watched Tony gave his wife a quick kiss.

Clint looked back at May, who was sitting with Steve now. The two seemed to be talking animatedly about cooking. Peter was watching the two of them, a smile on his face.

That's when there was a rustle in the bushes behind May, and a walker popped out, its teeth flashing in the light and the smell of death rolling off of it.

It grabbed onto May with one hand, and she let out a cry of fear.

Clint reached for his bow, but Steve was faster. He pushed the creature away from May and tackled it to the ground, his knee landing on its chest.

Then he pulled out his knife and stabbed the thing in its ear.

Steve looked down at the now dead walker, breathing heavily, before yanking the knife out again, wiping it off, and putting it back on his belt.

As soon as he stood, Steve had an arm full of May.

"Oh, my god. Thank you!" May said, shaking a little.

Peter was on his feet too, his eyes wide. He let out a shaky breath.

Steve returned May's hug for a moment before stepping back and catching Clint's eye. "I think we need to keep going," he said.

"Yeah, I believe you there," May said. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

The group was making slow and steady pace, but the sun was getting lower in the sky, and Tony knew that soon they'd have to figure out where they were going to spend the night.

Tony was walking in the back, looking out for any walkers that might be following them. He saw that Peter was just a few steps ahead of him, so he hitched his bag higher on his shoulder and sped up a little to match pace.

The kid was looking down at the ground, and his face looked troubled.

"You good, Peter?" Tony asked him.

Peter looked up at him, a flash of confusion crossing his face before it cleared and he shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine, I guess. Just… worried about May."

They looked forward to where May was walking with Nat. Her steps were slower than the others', but sure.

"She's looking better, I think," Tony said encouragingly. "She'll be okay."

Peter sighed. "Yeah. I wish we could just stay somewhere for once, though. Somewhere safe. Where she could rest up and really get better."

"Me too. We all do. And I think - I think we'll find it."

"I don't know," Peter said, shaking his head. "It kind of feels like everywhere is like this now. It's all messed up."

"Well, if it doesn't exist we'll make it ourselves," Tony promised.

Peter gave him a little smile. "Sounds good," he replied.

Tony patted him on the shoulder once and then said, "So tell me what you're into, Pete. You got hobbies?"

"You mean, besides trying to survive the apocalypse?" Peter said wryly. "Do other people have time for more than that?"

Tony rolled his eyes, amused. "Yeah, I don't think that one's unique to you. And you don't have to talk about now. What did you like to do before all of this happened?"

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. I, uh… collected old computers and stuff. You know - out of the… trash. Made them work again."

"Ah, a little engineer," Tony said approvingly.

Peter smiled sheepishly. "I guess. It's a little nerdy too, I know, but I also love LEGOs. Me and my friend Ned would build them all the time." His face clouded again. "I hope he's okay."

Tony tried to swerve away from the sad portion of that reply. "LEGOs, huh? You ever go to Legoland?"

Peter scoffed. "No. I've never been out of the city until all of this. We barely left Queens."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, we didn't really have the money to go anywhere. May and - and Ben were always busy."

Tony let out a breath. Man, but it was hard to have a light hearted conversation nowadays. He tried to change the conversation again. "You, uh - got a favorite place to eat in Queens?"

Peter nodded. "Yup. Delmar's," he said proudly. "It's this little bodega a few blocks from us. They got the best sandwiches there. I used to stop there all the time after school."

"It's always the little places, isn't it? That have the best stuff."

"Yeah," Peter agreed. "I wonder if you can even get a sandwich anywhere, now."

Tony shrugged. "I don't know, kid. I hope so."

"I just… wait, what - why did everyone stop?" Peter said suddenly, frowning.

"Huh?" Tony looked up to see what she was talking about.

It was true, the group had stopped ahead of them in a line.

Tony stepped up next to Clint. "What's going - oh," he broke off as he saw exactly what the problem was.

There was a river running right through their path. And a pretty big one at that. It must have been at least 200 feet across, and the water was flowing swift. Along the edges there were little rapids, and the middle looked dark and deep.

"This does not look like anything we want to cross," Tony said, catching Pepper's eye. She looked just as concerned as he felt. "I mean - Do we even need to cross it?"

"Unfortunately," Clint replied.

"Can we maybe… walk downstream?" Pepper said. "Maybe there's a better place to cross."

"We can split up and check it out," Steve suggested. "How about I go with Peter downstream, and Bucky go with Rhodey upstream."

"I don't know," Tony said hesitantly, glancing at Peter.

Steve tapped his wrist. "Bucky and I both have watches. I see you have one, too. We'll walk for 15 minutes and then turn around and head back."

"Sounds smart to me, Tones," Rhodey said. "We'll never know until we check it out."

Tony considered it. "You cool with this, May?" he asked.

May, who had found a log to sit on, nodded her approval. "Just - stick with Steve, Peter," she told her nephew.

"Will do," Peter replied.

Steve gave May a reassuring smile, and the groups compared their watches before splitting off. It wasn't long before they were out of sight in the brush.

Tony turned back to see that Clint was shaking his head as he studied the map in his hands. "This shouldn't be here," he said. "At least, it definitely shouldn't be this big. This doesn't make any sense."

"Where are we on there?" Tony asked, squinting at the paper. "I've never been good at reading these things."

Natasha was standing on Clint's other side. She put a finger down on the map. "Right there," she said. "That blue line is the river." She traced her finger up the paper, following the curve of the river. Then she paused and tapped a certain spot. "You see that, Clint?"

"Oh," Clint said, eyes widening. "A dam. I guess… it could have burst. That would explain things."

"That does not sound good," Tony said.

"Some of these old dams need constant monitoring," Nat said, glancing at Tony. "It makes sense that one would break down. But that means they probably won't have any luck finding a spot where the river is smaller. There's a lot of water flowing here."

"I guess it was still good to check, though," Pepper said.

Nat shrugged. "Yeah, you never know. I hope they come back with something promising."

Tony stood on the bank and looked out across the river. He'd never been afraid of the water; he'd learned to swim at an early age, and he'd lived next to the beach for years. But the water here looked menacing, and strong.

He leaned over and picked up a stick before tossing it out as far as he could into the water. It landed with a small splash on the surface, and was immediately picked up by the current. And from the way it was moving, the water was definitely going fast.

They'd need to be careful here. It would be so disappointing to survive countless walkers but end up drowning at the bottom of a river.

Tony and the others set up a perimeter, watching for walkers, and waited for the two groups to return.

Rhodey and Bucky were the first two back, right at the 30 minute mark. They looked dirty and frustrated, and when Tony looked at them questioningly, they just shook their head.

"Nothing good," Rhodey said. "It just gets worse up there, really. And damn but the bushes were killing me. Look, my arms are all cut up."

"Hopefully Steve will have found something down there. Otherwise we're pretty screwed," Bucky said.

Tony nodded. "Love the optimism there."

Bucky just raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

Another ten minutes passed, though, and Steve and Peter weren't back.

Tony was getting restless, and he could feel the others were too.

"Where are they?" Natasha said, trying to look through the bushes. "They should be back by now."

"Should we go after them?" May asked, looking a little fearful.

"Not yet," said Clint. "It'll be worse to get even more split up. But, if they're not back in the hour, we'll go." He looked over at May. "I'm sure they're fine," he said reassuringly. "Maybe they actually found something good."

"Or maybe they're being attacked by walkers," muttered Bucky as he paced along the bank.

"Again, with the optimism," Tony said. "Amazing."

Then they all turned when they heard noises from the bushes.

"Peter!" Nat said, relieved.

Sure enough, a moment later Peter and Steve both burst out, breathing hard with red faces. They had their weapons out in front of them.

"We need to move," Steve said quickly, firmly. "Now."

"What happened?" Bucky asked, walking up to him. "Walkers?"

Steve nodded, still out of breath. "The herd cought up to us. They're right behind us. We have to _go."_

"Cross the river?"

Another nod.

May had moved over to where Peter stood and put a hand on his cheek. They spoke softly, Peter obviously reassuring her.

"Okay, let's do this, people," Clint said to the group. "This is what's gonna happen. We stand in a line, and walk sideways. I'll be at the front. May, you go to the back. The rest of you fill in where you want - just keep in mind that the front bears the weight of the current. Got it?"

Everyone nodded. Tony's heart was beating wildly in his chest.

"If you get knocked off your feet," Nat said, "Just let whatever bags you have go. It's not worth your life."

"Okay, let's move," Steve said.

There was another noise from the bushes, and a walker stumbled out, its eyes glassy and a moan rising from its mouth.

A moment later there was an arrow between its eyes, and Clint gestured harshly to the water. "Now!" he hissed.

Tony ran to the edge of the river, the others doing the same around him.

As soon as his foot hit the water, he gasped at the cold. It was like an electric shock ran up his leg. But he just gritted his teeth and kept going in. They didn't have a choice.

They walked separately until the water reached their thighs, and at that point Clint called out for them to come together.

Tony fit somewhere in the middle. May and Pepper were at the back, and Clint and Bucky were holding up the front. The others got in wherever they could.

As they lined up, Tony glanced back to shore and saw a few walkers entering the water.

He caught Natasha's eye. She nodded, her teeth chattering against the cold. She saw them, too.

They started walking together. It was slower, but felt more secure. And as long as they made it across before the walkers got to them, it would be worth it that they didn't all get swept away with the current.

Peter was standing right behind him, his hands on Tony's shoulders.

Tony looked back at him and said over the rush of the water, "We're good, kid. Keep going."

Peter nodded, his hands tightening.

Tony looked ahead again and turned the focus back onto his feet. He had to feel around a lot to figure out where the best place to step was on the rocky riverbed.

At this point, Tony could barely feel his legs, they were so numb. The problem was that with each new step he felt a new wave of cold as more of his body was submerged in the water. Plus, he was really starting to feel the current. He hoped that May was okay, and could only imagine how much worse it was for Clint in the front.

At one point the water was up to below his ribs, and the current was pushing hard against and around him. However, they just kept moving on, one step at a time.

It seemed like they had just made it out of the worst part of the current when there was a cry from the front, and then a heavy splash.

"Bucky!" Steve yelled, his hand reaching out.

Tony's eyes were wide as he watched the man come rushing towards them in the water.

He didn't know what to do. His feet were barely holding on to the riverbed as it was. He didn't want to be swept away, too.

But then a hand let go of his shoulder, and Peter reached out for the other man.

Bucky grabbed it desperately, pulling Peter off balance.

"Tony, help!" Peter cried.

Tony reacted on instinct. He twisted and grabbed onto Peter first. Then, when he saw that the kid's grip was slipping, shot a hand out to hold onto Bucky's arm.

Together, he and Peter pulled Bucky to his feet as best as they could and shoved him back into their line.

Bucky breathed heavily, his eyes wide. "Thanks," he gasped.

Somehow they made it across the rest of the river, and all of them stumbled onto the far bank, shivering and soaked. The bag on Tony's back seemed ten times heavier now that it was full of water. He just hoped none of the food had been damaged.

Tony rushed over to Pepper and pulled her close. She was agressively shivering, but held onto him tight. He saw May doing the same to Peter.

"Look," said Natasha, pointing out across the water.

Tony and Pepper turned and after a moment, he saw what she was referring to. It was the walkers. There must have been around ten of them in the river now, making their way towards them.

But as one reached the center of the river, it was knocked off balance and rushed downstream, bobbing in and out of the water. The next one had the same fate.

Tony let out a relieved chuckle. "Damn," he said. "That's amazing."

A few others smiled as well, laughing in amazement and relief at the walkers and at their own survival.

"Holy shit," Rhodey said, shivering and crossing his arms over his chest. "Holy _shit! _I am never doing that again. Never! You okay, Bucky?"

Bucky was wringing out his long hair. "Yeah," he said. "I'm with you, though. Never again."

There were a few more laughs around the group as they processed what had just happened.

Then Clint spoke up. "Good job, guys. Let's get moving, though. Before we all freeze to death."

"He's right," Steve said. "We need to find somewhere to camp."

So, after they got what water they could from their clothes, the group moved on - cold, but relieved to be alive.

* * *

That night, Tony was standing at the edge of their camp, staring off into the dark woods. Behind him, the other members of their little group were gathered around a tiny fire, blocking the light from getting out as they tried to warm themselves and dry their clothes and shoes. Clint had shot and butchered two squirrels as well, and they were cooking over the embers.

Tony could only hope that they were going in the right direction through these woods, and that Steve and Bucky knew what they were doing. It was they who had started this march after all. And despite how friendly they seemed, and how they'd been right about the herd, he couldn't help but still have some reservations about the pair. He hoped he continued to be proven wrong.

There were footsteps behind him. "You okay over here, Tony?"

Speak of the devil.

"Hey there, Uncle Sam," Tony replied, keeping his voice low. He only spared a moment to meet Steve's eyes before he looked back into the trees. "Haven't seen a thing so far. Hopefully it stays that way. People drying off over there?"

Steve nodded. "Today was rough. The fire's a risk, but we need it."

"Agreed. How's the barbecue going?"

Steve shrugged. "Nicely, I think. It's been nice having some meat around. Neither Bucky or I are very good at that."

"Really?" Tony said. "I would have thought you'd be a hunter or something. Aren't most military guys into that?"

Steve chuckled and leaned up against a tree. His face was in shadow. "Not us. We grew up in Brooklyn, actually. Not much hunting to do there. Unless you want to go after the rats."

Tony lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I wouldn't have pegged you for that, to be honest."

"Yup. Brooklyn born and raised," Steve said proudly.

"We're all from the city, then," Tony said. "Well… I guess I don't know where all of these people grew up, but…"

"Where'd you live?"

"Uh… Midtown," Tony replied.

"Wow," Steve said. "Guess you had some money, then."

"Yeah." Tony huffed a laugh. "And look where that got me." He gestured to the woods around them.

Steve nodded. "The world's changed quite a bit, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"I just have to remind myself of what I have," Steve said. "Bucky's family. And… I hope you'll end up that way, too. But to be honest, it's a bit too soon to be sure of that," he added with a low chuckle.

"Don't worry," Tony said. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"You seem like good people, though," Steve continued. "I'll keep watching their backs, if you do the same for mine."

Tony stuck out his hand to shake, and was relieved when Steve did. "Deal," he said.

"Good." Steve nodded. Then he pushed off the tree and walked back to the fire.

Tony let out a sigh before looking back out into the brush. He couldn't wait until it was his turn at the fire. The dark was cold.

And as he shivered against the night, Tony knew that this would be only the first in a long line of tough nights. After all, winter was on its way. And that couldn't mean anything good.

He just hoped they were strong enough to make it through.

* * *

A/N: I hope that I'm doing Steve and Bucky justice. Out of everyone in this crew that I've gathered for the apocalypse, I probably know them the least well. So, let me know your thoughts. I appreciate any comments or feedback.

Happy New Year, by the way! And I'll see you soon with more!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Welcome back, everybody! Just as a fair warning, I'm headed back to school tomorrow so the next update might be a little slower on the drop. Don't worry, though - I'll be back. Enjoy!

* * *

"Clint, look!" Natasha said, pointing ahead through the trees.

Clint followed her gaze and saw what she had spotted. A shape through the branches that looked like the side of a house. He nodded at her. "I see it," he said. "Good timing; the sun's about to go down."

They had been walking through the woods for a few days now, each night camping on the cold hard ground. They hadn't seen much evidence of civilization in all that time. That they had found a house was a good sign that they were getting to the other side of this forest. The next town would probably show itself soon.

But for now, this house might be a good place to spend the night.

The group walked forwards. Right before trees broke into a clearing, there was a short stone wall that they jumped over. A little cottage sat in the middle of the clearing. It had a nice stone chimney and what would have probably been some pretty rose bushes if it were spring. It looked dark and quiet through the windows.

"Rhodey," Clint said. "Bucky. Why don't we go check this place out? The rest of you, look around the yard for loose walkers."

"Sure," Steve said, nodding.

So Clint walked towards the house, Rhodey and Bucky behind him.

"It doesn't look like anyone's inside," Rhodey said, peering through the window.

"Nothing alive, anyway," Bucky muttered in agreement.

They went up the steps to the small porch, and Rhodey moved to kick down the door.

"Whoa there, cowboy," Clint said, amused. "You wanna check if it's open first?"

Rhodey rolled his eyes and reached for the doorknob. "It's not gonna be - oh."

The doorknob turned and the door swung open.

Clint just raised his eyebrows at Rhodey and stepped past him into the house. It was dim, but he quickly adjusted to the light.

The entryway was covered in dust, but it looked like the place had been ransacked at some point in the past. Random objects had fallen to the floor, drawers were pulled open, and the mirror on the wall was smashed. The whole place looked dingy and cold.

"Egh," Rhodey said, shuddering. "This place is creepy."

"Isn't everything creepy nowadays?" Clint said, stepping further into the house. The floors creaked under his feet. He kept his bow out in front of him, pointed at the shadows.

"You go right," Bucky said, pointing at Rhodey. "We'll take this room. Meet us in the back."

Rhodey nodded, and they split.

The room they stepped into first looked like what used to be a sitting room, with wooden furniture surrounding a stone fireplace. One of the chairs had been destroyed and partly used as firewood. In the corner of the room an armoire sat with its doors pulled off, and hangers sat empty inside of it. Obviously whatever useful things had been in there were taken.

There were no walkers, though, so they moved on.

Bucky pushed the next door open, his gun out in front of him. Before Clint could even see what was going on in there, the gun went off once, and then twice.

Clint ran in, bow loaded. "What just -" he cut off as he saw the two walkers dead on the ground, bullet holes through their heads. When he looked up at Bucky, the man met his gaze and nodded.

"We're clear," he said.

Clint nodded back. "Nice one," he acknowledged. He noticed that they were in the kitchen. Two small windows and a door lined the back wall, leading out into the yard.

He looked down at the dead walkers. One used to be a woman - the other was probably her husband. They were both wearing matching aprons.

"I'll clear these two out," Bucky offered. He grabbed one by the arms and pulled it towards the back door, fumbling with the knob for a moment before he was able to get it open.

A minute later Rhodey was in the room with them. There were only a few rooms on the other side of the cottage, and he'd gotten through them with no problem.

"This place looks good for the night," Rhodey said, glancing at the body on the floor.

"Yeah, it should work," Clint agreed. "It'll be nice to have a roof over our heads for once."

Rhodey nodded. "That's for sure. It's been cold the last couple nights."

Bucky came back in through the door, followed by Steve. They grabbed the second body together and carried it outside.

"Looks like those two didn't actually die too long ago," commented Rhodey.

"Yeah." Clint glanced around the kitchen and saw a pot on the stove. "We should probably avoid whatever they were cooking in that," he said.

Rhodey chuckled. "Agreed. Food poisoning is _not _how I'm going out."

Noises came from the front of the house, and Clint figured that the others had come inside to check it out now that they knew it was clear.

He heard Peter's voice: "Ooh, look! Can we make a fire?"

"Maybe," May replied.

"These people ever hear about cushions?" Tony said. "This place is bare as hell."

"Maybe they're some blankets in one of the closets," Pepper suggested.

Clint stepped back into the sitting room, Rhodey right behind him.

"Nice place," Peter said to them with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks for securing the new digs," Tony added.

"We should probably only stay the night," Natasha said. "The town shouldn't be much farther on."

There were nods all around.

"Peter," May said. "Let me take a look at your head."

Peter rubbed the spot where he'd gotten pistol whipped. "I told you, May. It's fine. It's not bleeding anymore."

May raised her hands up appeasingly. "Okay, okay. Sue me for being concerned."

May had been doing much better lately. Even with all of the walking they'd done over the last few days, she seemed to have recovered almost completely from whatever illness had struck her. Clint was thankful that it hadn't been spread to anyone else.

"Can somebody get some food going?" Tony asked. "I'm starving."

"I think we can risk a good fire," Nat said, looking at the fireplace. "After all, they won't see any light. Just the smoke." She looked over at Clint for confirmation.

He nodded. "Makes sense to me," he said. "And it'd be nice to be a little warmer tonight."

"Yeah, what's up with this cold?" Peter said, taking a seat on one of the chairs that hadn't been broken down for fuel. "Who decided that was a good idea?"

"I blame Rhodey," Tony said, a glint in his eye. "You always say you love the cold. What, do you have access to the thermostat or something?"

Rhodey shrugged. "I do like the cold. It doesn't bother me, really."

Bucky stepped into the room and said, "Say that again in a month or so when the snow starts falling."

"Yeah," Steve added, "We should really be on the lookout for jackets and gloves and stuff. We'll need that later."

"So does this mean you're officially part of the posse?" Tony asked them. "I mean, when you say 'we'...?"

"Are we not already part of the posse?" Steve asked, chuckling. "What, is there a secret password? An entrance fee?"

"I think you paid the entrance fee when you saved our lives," Pepper said, walking back into the room with an arm full of blankets. She started handing them out. "Here, I found these down the hall. There's a few more if anyone needs another."

"Thanks, Pep," Tony said, planting a kiss on Pepper's cheek.

There was a flicker of light from the fireplace, and Clint turned to see that Natasha had been successful in her attempts to make a fire.

As she was adding more "logs" to feed it, Clint grabbed a few cans from the food bag and brought them over. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Rhodey.

"Hey, don't you think maybe the stove is working?" Rhodey said. "I mean, those people were cooking on it before they died."

"Oh yeah," Clint said. He tucked the cans under his arm and held out his hand to Nat. "Hey, pass me that lighter."

When the stove did work, Rhodey was so excited he punched Clint in the shoulder. "This is amazing!" he said.

Clint rubbed his shoulder, amused. "It's not much different than putting it over the fire. But I'm glad you're excited about it." He gestured towards the cupboards. "Grab a pot, will you?"

Rhodey opened up a cabinet and gasped. "Holy shit!"

"What?" Clint's gaze snapped over to where Rhodey was, his eyes looking out for danger.

But Rhodey just pulled out a small bottle from the cabinet, a smile on his face. "They've got spices! Real spices! And oil!"

Clint couldn't help it - he burst out laughing. "Okay, Guy Fieri. Why don't you cook?"

Rhodey grinned. "Don't mind if I do."

* * *

A few hours later, the sun had set, their bellies were full of warm food, and as they were sitting around the fire Clint felt more settled than he had in a while.

May had found a book on one of the shelves - _Pride and Prejudice - _and now she was reading it aloud to everyone. Her voice was calm and soothing, and Clint shifted back and forth from listening to the story to just soaking in the tone and not even hearing the words.

Eventually, his eyes slipped shut, and he fell asleep.

* * *

Unfortunately, they were wrong about thinking they'd make it to the town by the next day, and the following night was once again spent on the cold ground.

Tony was pretty tired of sleeping in the dirt, if he was being honest. But he had gotten better at it since this whole mess had started. The first few weeks they'd been on the road, he'd barely been able to sleep a wink. Now, he could sleep on almost anything.

Sleeping wasn't for a few hours, though, because they were still setting up camp. Clint had gone off to shoot them a few squirrels, and Bucky and Steve were making a barrier of sticks and placing cans that would rattle if any intruders tried to cross.

Tony was with Pepper, looking through their supplies.

"I feel like we're running through food too quickly," she said, shaking her head as she looked at a can of garbanzo beans. "We had so much more when we started this trek through the woods."

Tony shrugged. "Well, that's what happens when you have to feed nine people."

"Yeah, I guess. We'll have to find more when we get into town, though."

"What's new there," Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

Pepper chuckled. "Yeah, I know. We'll always be looking for more food."

"It's too bad we lost some of that medical gear to the river, though," Tony said, zipping up one of the duffel bags.

"It wasn't that much, really," Pepper replied. "Just some gauze pads and the tape. The rest is okay."

Tony finished zipping the duffel bag and patted the top. He looked over at Pepper, and smiled at her.

She smiled back, and then her gaze drifted a little to the left and turned somber.

Tony turned to see what she was looking at, and spotted May sitting alone. She was watching Peter as the kid went to help Bucky and Steve, and had a melancholy look on her face.

Pepper grabbed Tony's hand, and he looked back at her to see her expression was tender. "I love you, you know that?" she said.

Tony squeezed her hand. "Yeah, I know," he said. "I love you, too."

"I just…" Pepper glanced over at May again. "We - we should say that more often."

Tony pulled her forwards and kissed her softly. "I love you," he said again, filling his voice with all the emotion he could muster. "But don't worry, I'll be here a long time to say that to you."

Pepper wrapped her arms around him, and spoke into his neck, "I love you. And, I know. I'll be here, too."

Tony squeezed her tighter, and only pulled back when he felt her arms loosen.

Pepper smiled at him again, then picked up a duffel bag and dropped it in his arms. "Take that over there, you big sap."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Later, Tony was sitting next to the dying fire, watching the golden embers as they sparkled within the ring of rocks. Peter sat next to him, his arms wrapped around his knees.

The sun had set by now, but the moon shone down on them, providing a little more light. Tony could see clouds gathering, though. He hoped it wasn't going to rain. They hadn't had to deal with that since they entered the forest, and Tony would rather face that with a roof over his head.

The others were milling about, readying themselves for bed. Rhodey and Nat were taking the first watch, and some people had already gone to sleep. Bucky and Steve were talking a little ways away, though. As were May and Pepper.

Tony turned to look at Peter, and saw the cool light of the moon highlighting the bags underneath the kid's eyes.

"You okay, Peter?" he asked.

Peter nodded. "Yeah," he said softly. "I'm just tired."

"Well," Tony suggested, "You could go to sleep."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the tip."

"What?" Tony said, studying him. "Is something keeping you up?"

"Nothing different than the normal stuff," Peter said with a shrug.

Tony nodded. "What… what's the normal stuff?"

Peter shot him a look like he was stupid. "I mean, there's the fact that there are crazy undead monsters walking around and we could die at any moment. I can come up with some other stuff if that's not enough."

"No," Tony said. "That's plenty for me, thanks."

It was quiet for a minute as both of them stared into the embers.

Then Peter said quietly, "Are you… do you get scared, ever?"

Tony looked over at him again. "Yeah," he replied softly. "Definitely, I get scared. Like you said, we've got good reason to be sometimes."

"I'm scared," Peter admitted. "A lot of the time. I… I feel like being scared all the time should make you less scared, eventually," Peter said, and Tony had to strain to hear his voice. "But it doesn't. It makes you more scared." He looked up at Tony, his gaze vulnerable. Then he shook his head roughly. "I guess I should just get used to it."

Tony shook his head, appalled by the wrongness of what he'd just heard. No kid should have to think that way.

He hesitated for a moment before slowly reaching out a hand and putting it on Peter's shoulder.

The kid blinked and looked up at him again.

"I'm sorry," Tony said quietly. "It shouldn't be this way. But… as long as we all have each other, we can make the world a little less scary. If you share it, it's not as bad."

Peter nodded. "Yeah. I know."

"Just…" Tony felt like he was wording all of this terribly. So he finished simply, "I want you to know I'm watching your back. We all are."

Peter gave him a little smile. "Thanks, Tony," he said softly. "I'll be watching yours, too."

Tony squeezed Peter's shoulder and nodded sharply before pulling back. "I'm… I'm gonna get some shut eye," he said awkwardly.

Peter, still smiling, nodded at him. "Okay."

"See you… see you in the morning."

"Right."

Tony gave the kid one last look before getting up and walking to the other side of the fire ring. He sat down before stretching out on the ground, his head pillowed on his arm.

He stared into the dying embers, occasionally glancing towards Peter, who was now being spoken to softly by his aunt.

He wasn't sure why he felt so protective of this kid. But maybe there was something about him that he connected with - some part of himself that he identified in Peter. And he knew that this kid deserved a better life. One where he could grow up without being afraid of shadows.

But since that life had been taken from him, Tony would just have to be there to help him. He hoped he could do it right.

Sighing, Tony's eyes drifted shut. His tired body sank into the ground, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Tony snapped awake suddenly, disoriented. There was a hand at his shoulder.

"Tony," Rhodey hissed urgently. "Get up. We need to move."

It was pitch black out. The embers of the fire had died. The air was cool, and Tony could hear the wind whipping through the leaves in the trees.

He shook his head blearily, put pushed himself to his feet. "What - what's going on?" he asked, confused.

Tony could barely see the look on Rhodey's face through the dark, but it adrenaline spike through him. "They're everywhere," Rhodey said, gripping his shoulder. "If we don't get the hell away from here, we're dead meat."

Tony looked around frantically. He saw that people were moving all around him. To his right, Clint was knocking an arrow in his bow, and in front of him Steve was knocking down a walker with a tree branch.

"Pepper," he said frantically. "Where's Pepper?"

"She's over there," Rhodey pointed. "Now get your fucking knife out unless you plan on dying tonight."

Tony spotted a figure across the way, and figured that must be Pepper. He stepped away from Rhodey, his mind on his wife. He needed to make sure that she was safe.

He heard Rhodey call out behind him, but didn't process what he said since at that moment a huge bolt of lightning flashed through the sky.

Someone gasped nearby right before the air was broken with the sound of thunder.

Rain started to fall, slow at first but heavier by the second.

"Pepper!" Tony called out. He continued after the figure he saw through the dark. Rain hit his eyes, and he tried to shield them with the hand that didn't hold his knife.

It wasn't long before he was soaked to the bone. His hair flattened to his head, and his clothes hung loose and wet around him.

Finally, he reached Pepper, and put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him slowly.

"Pepper," he said over the sounds of the storm, "We gotta go. Are you okay?"

She didn't reply, and Tony frowned in confusion, squinting at her through the rain. "Pepper?" he said, confused.

She turned around completely, and in the same moment, a flash of lightning lit the sky.

What was illuminated made Tony stumble back in terror, his knife held out in front of him. "Shit!" he cursed.

That wasn't Pepper. Instead, a thing with a rotting face and empty eyes stared at him.

It stepped forwards, and Tony stepped back again. But this time, he slipped in the growing mud and landed flat on his back.

The air rushed out of his lungs at the impact, and he barely reacted fast enough when the walker fell on top of him.

Frantically, his breathing rapid, he struggled and twisted and kicked. Finally, with one last good push, he got it off of himself.

Tony got to his knees and straddled the thing to keep it down before taking his knife and stabbing it in the skull. It took three blows before the knife made it through the bone. Blood spurted back into his face.

He collapsed back into the mud, his heart pounding and his chest heaving. Rain still poured on him from above, and another horrible thunderclap rolled through the air.

Tony stumbled to his feet in the mud and moved away from the dead walker, his eyes wide as he tried to see through the rain and the dark. He tried to remember which direction he had come from. Where was camp? Where was Pepper?

He could barely see a few feet in front of himself, but there were no figures in the distance. The sounds of the storm blocked all others, even as he strained to hear voices over the pounding rain.

A hand on his shoulder nearly made him jump out of his skin. He whipped around wildly, his knife out in front of him.

"Ah!" a voice said in surprise and pain. "No, no - Tony, it's me!"

Tony wiped the rain from his eyes and blinked to see Peter standing in front of him, soaked in rain and holding a hand against his opposite shoulder.

"Oh, god," Tony said, staring at the shoulder. "I'm - I'm sorry."

Peter shook his head. He said something, but a crack of lightning stole the words out of his mouth.

Tony reached out and gripped his shoulder - the one he hadn't just accidentally stabbed. "Stay right behind me!" he said over the wind. "We'll find everyone else!"

Peter nodded. Then his eyes widened, and he dropped his bleeding shoulder to grab Tony's knife out of his hands.

Tony stumbled to the side as Peter pushed past him, and turned to see the kid knocking down another walker before getting it through the eye.

But that wasn't all. It was what was behind that walker that stole Tony's breath from his lungs.

There were at least ten more dead, stumbling towards them, their arms outstretched.

"Peter!" he cried. He pulled the kid to his feet and they ran forwards, their footsteps unsteady in the mud.

At one point Peter tripped and landed heavily on the ground, his face in the dirt.

Tony just yanked him up again and pushed him forwards in front of himself.

When he heard a voice in the wind, though, he stopped.

"What was that?" he said, still gripping Peter's arm.

Peter turned to him, eyes wide. "That was Steve!" he said.

They heard it again, much clearer this time.

"Anyone out there, get in here!" Steve yelled.

Tony held onto Peter and they ran together through the dark towards Steve's voice.

When they found him, he was standing in front of some kind of shed. He was holding the door open, and they ran inside without hesitation.

Bucky was already in the shed. He stood dripping, his long hair plastered to his face by the rain.

The door slammed shut, and the noise of the wind cut down dramatically, although they could still hear the patter of rain on the roof. Immediately they started grabbing things to brace against the door and keep it shut.

The shed was almost oppressively dark, lit only by the shocks of lightning that broke outside. Their harsh breaths filled the space.

Slowly, their eyes adjusted to the dark, and Tony was able to see the figures, and eventually the faces of those around him.

"Oh my god," Peter said, running a hand over his face. He looked terrified. "That was close."

"Stay quiet," Steve hissed. "We don't want them trying to break down the door."

Bucky nodded in agreement. "If one starts knocking, they all join."

Tony looked around the shed, taking in the shelves of gear. Most of it looked like gardening equipment - empty pots and old bags of soil. There was a sprinkler, and a ladder. Tools - some of which looked useful - lined the back wall.

Tony's eye fell on Peter again, and he saw the blood running from the kid's shoulder. He reached out a hand to touch it. "Are - are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I don't think it's deep," Peter said quickly. "But what - what about everyone else?" Peter said anxiously, turning to Tony. His voice could barely be heard above the storm. "Where are they?"

Tony shook his head. His own worry matched the level that he could see on Peter's face. "I don't know," he admitted. "But they'll - they'll make it." He hoped that he sounded believable.

"We should go out after them!"

"No," Steve interrupted firmly. "We can't. There's nothing we can do out there. All that'll happen is we'll end up cornered by walkers or breaking our necks in the mud. We'll go out when the storm breaks."

Peter's breaths were shaky. "Maybe… maybe they'll make it back to the house," he said hopefully.

Tony didn't bother pointing out that the cottage was a day's walk away. "Maybe," he breathed.

He closed his eyes and thought about Pepper. Her bright eyes, the way her hair shifted in the breeze - her laugh.

She had made it.

They all had. There was no other option.

He opened his eyes to see Bucky walking towards the back of the shed, where a table was pressed up against the wall. On it, there was a pot filled with water. A dead mouse floated on the top, bloated and rotting.

"Ugh," said Bucky, looking into the pot. "That's disgusting."

The next moment passed faster than Tony could blink.

The table rattled, and out from behind it popped a grotesque face, its teeth bared.

"Bucky!" Steve called out in warning.

But it was too late. There was no time to move before the walker's teeth sunk into Bucky's hand.

"NO!" Bucky screamed. He grabbed the walker by the head and slammed it into the corner of the table. Once, twice, three times —

There was a sick crack, and brains flew from the corpse.

Bucky released it slowly and turned to face the rest of them, a horrified look on his face.

And then he collapsed.

"Bucky, no!" Steve cried. He raced forwards and landed on his knees in front of his friend.

Bucky was shaking, holding his bitten hand up in front of his face. His expression was one of terror, and Tony didn't blame him.

"Bucky," Steve was saying. "No, no, no -"

But for the moment, Tony couldn't focus on that. "Are there any more?" he demanded, looking around the shed. Every corner seemed to be hiding walkers now.

Steve was still staring at Bucky in horror, but tore his eyes away to look around for other threats.

After a moment though, it was clear there was no other threat in the room, and Steve's attention was back on his friend.

Peter was standing almost unnaturally still against the door, his face pale and his jaw clenched as he watched Bucky.

"There must be something we can do," Steve was saying desperately.

"It's over," Bucky told him. "You know how this goes. We all do. Now, you have to do it," he said meaningfully.

_"No," _Steve said fiercely.

Tony watched in sympathy. It was true. They had all been there before. And he was sorry to see Bucky's time had run out. If he could do anything, he would. But everyone knew that when you got bit, it was over. There was no saving you.

He suddenly couldn't watch any more, and tore his eyes away from the scene.

That's when Tony's eyes caught on something hanging from the wall. Something sharp.

An idea popped into his head.

Oh, God. What was he about to do.

He reached over, grabbed it off the wall and held the heavy handle in his hands.

Steve was standing over Bucky, his face full of pain and horror.

Bucky had his lips pressed tight together, but his eyes shone bright with fear. "Kill me now, Steve," he was saying. "I will _not _be one of them."

Steve just shook his head in denial. "No, no, Buck—"

"We _promised!" _Bucky hissed desperately. "You have to do this. _Please!" _

Tony stepped forwards, his eyes on the bitten hand that was now resting on the ground at Bucky's side.

A voice came from behind him. "Tony?" Peter said quietly, confused. "What…?"

Tony didn't look back, and just kept walking towards Bucky.

But at the noise, Steve looked up. His face twisted in confusion. "Tony, what's going on?"

"Move out of the way, Steve," Tony told him softly.

"No… what?"

"Move," Tony said again, louder this time.

But Steve wouldn't move from his protective position above his friend. "What the hell are you doing?" He demanded angrily, his eyes wide. "Get back!"

"Move!" Tony roared. He pushed Steve aside, and the man landed on his back, leaving the way clear.

Tony's heart pumped in his chest, and thunder boomed outside. But he didn't let himself think. There was no time for that. He had to move. _Now. _

The axe swung forwards, and landed with a sick thud right through Bucky's wrist.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, y'all! This chapter was a blast to write, and I can't wait to hear what you think about it!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Last time on A Scared New World...

Our intrepid crew's journey through the woods to escape a walker herd and find a new town was halted by a frightening night full of thunderstorms, dead people, and an axe-wielding Tony Stark. Now the group is separated and scared. How will they make it out of this one?

* * *

An arrow flew from a bow, across a clearing, and into the eye of a walker with a sickening thunk.

Clint let out a breath as he lowered his bow, and it ghosted in the cold morning air. Then he slowly went to retrieve the arrow, looking around vigilantly as he went. But besides the two other people following behind him, there was no movement.

The sun was slowly edging over the horizon now, bringing an end to what had been a truly horrible night. It was one of the worst he'd been through recently, and Clint had seen a lot of bad nights.

They had been woken in the middle of the night by the cans they kept at the edge of their campsite. What had followed was a siege. A group of at least twenty zombies had wandered into their territory, separating the group. And as the cherry on top, nature had decided to throw in a thunderstorm.

So yeah, the last few hours hadn't been great. Clint was surprised they were even alive, if he was being honest with himself. And if he was being more honest, he wasn't sure if anyone else from their little group had made it long enough to see daylight.

It was early yet though, he kept telling himself. The others were out there, and they would find them. It wouldn't help matters to imagine every horrible outcome.

Clint pushed the image of Natasha with twisted limbs and vacant eyes from his mind and yanked his arrow from the walker's skull. It came out with a satisfying sound.

His eyes pounded in his head as he straightened up and looked back at May and Rhodey. They looked just as tired as Clint felt. After running the whole night, his head was pounding and his body felt weighed down with fatigue. Not to mention their clothes were soaking wet still from the rain, which had stopped not too long ago. They would need to find some way to dry out and get warm, or they could be in for some trouble.

"So, what do we do?" May said quietly and a little desperately, looking between him and Rhodey. "I mean, we have to find everybody else."

Rhodey was looking around at the edges of the clearing, watching for walkers in the bushes. "Maybe we should go back to that house we stayed at," he suggested.

Clint shook his head and adjusted the bag on his back. "No, it's too far. No one will be going that way."

"But it's familiar," May argued.

"I think we should keep going to the next town," Clint said. "It's so close now, people are bound to have gone that way."

Rhodey ran a hand over his head and sighed. "Okay," he breathed. "Jesus… what a night."

May's lip was shaking, and Clint couldn't tell if it was from cold or emotion.

"Right. Then let's… let's head to town and find some place to hole up," Clint said. "Hopefully we'll find people on the way there, but if not…"

"If not, we'll go looking," Rhodey said firmly.

Clint nodded. They would look until they found the others - alive… or dead.

* * *

They didn't have to walk long before they hit the edge of the town.

First they hit a road, one that they followed to find a gas station and a convenience store. Both places looked looted to their bones. Windows were blown in, and trash fluttered around in the wind. Dark spots hinted at blood, or where a body might once have been.

The road continued, with more stores and buildings popping up as they got closer to the center of town. The three of them kept their ears and eyes open for walkers, but the place was quiet - for now.

At one point, though, they turned around a block, and Clint stopped dead in his tracks.

Rhodey and May came up behind him, and all three of them looked ahead in confusion.

"What - what is this?" Rhodey said, taking another couple steps forward.

May frowned. "It looks like... a wall."

In front of them the entire street was blocked off. Between the buildings on either side of the street, huge amounts of debris had been piled up to create some kind of blockade. Clint could see chairs, drywall, a car - it looked like anything and everything had been used to create this. It went about ten feet up, and at the bottom they could see bodies. None of the bodies were moving, and some of them looked like they'd had their heads destroyed, but Clint kept a wary eye on them either way.

"Who did this?" Clint said in a hushed voice, looking around with his bow at the ready. It suddenly felt like there were eyes watching them. He looked up into the second story windows, but couldn't see anything.

"Maybe we should get out of here," Rhodey said, looking equally as wary.

But May shook her head. "No. We have to go in there," she said firmly. "Peter could be back there. Anyone could be back there."

"That's kind of my concern," Rhodey replied. "I don't want to see just anyone."

Clint met May's determined eyes, and nodded. "Alright," he agreed. "We'll check it out. But if it looks bad in there, we leave."

"Fine," May said, walking quickly towards the barricade. "Let's go."

Clint moved to catch up with her, and Rhodey followed.

"I do not have a good feeling about this," Rhodey hissed at Clint.

Clint just raised an eyebrow in response, but a noise from ahead had him snapping his gaze forwards again.

May was at the bottom of the barricade now, and had tried to step onto it. But she didn't seem to see what was right next to her -

"May, watch out!" he said quickly, raising his bow again. He released the string, and the next moment there was an arrow protruding out of a walker's skull.

It had been just a foot away from her.

"Jesus, May - be careful," Rhodey said, looking around for other threats.

May wouldn't meet Clint's eye as he retrieved his arrow and then shouldered the bow. "Can we please move?" she said.

"We are moving," Clint told her, trying to sound reassuring. He was feeling the same worry she was. "But keep in mind you'll be no use to Peter as a walker. Stay sharp."

She just pressed her lips together, and put her foot back on the barricade.

The climb over the top of the pile was tricky. It wasn't exactly the most stable construction, although they realized quickly that it must have been pretty thick to keep walkers from pushing it down.

Debris shifted under their feet as they tried to climb, and they made way more noise than Clint was comfortable with. But eventually, they made it to the other side. Clint jumped down first, and stabilized the other two as they came down.

As May was taking her final step off of the barricade, a shelf shifted beneath her, and she fell forwards with a gasp.

Clint tried to catch her, but she still stumbled heavily to her knees.

Concerned, Clint knelt beside her, a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he asked.

Through gritted teeth, May replied, "I'm fine. Let's go."

Clint gestured to Rhodey, and the two of them helped her up, each holding onto an elbow. When she was settled, they finally had a chance to look around.

Surprisingly, and in contrast to the other side of the barricade, the street looked relatively clean. There were no bodies in sight, and he saw minimal rubble and broken glass. There were plenty of fallen leaves on the ground, though - most of them soggy with last night's rain.

On the cross street, they could see another street barricaded off to the left.

"This way," Clint said softly, directing them to turn to the right.

As Clint walked down the street with the others, his heart pounded in his chest. Something wasn't right here. Obviously someone - or more likely, a lot of someones - had created those barricades. Where were they now? Could they be looking down on them from one of the buildings to either side? Or had they abandoned the place?

And if they had abandoned it… why?

The next barricade they came across wasn't so crudely made. In fact, it looked like a strong fence, with barbed wire on top and a heavy metal door. Affixed to the fence was a sign: SECURE AREA - PROTECTED MILITARY ZONE.

"Whoa," Rhodey said, eyes wide. "Does that say what I think it says?"

"It's a safe zone," May breathed. "We… we always thought they were a myth."

Clint looked around warily, considering how empty the area seemed. "It still might be," he muttered.

It was true, though; they'd always heard whispers of safe zones - places with high walls and armed guards that walkers could never get into, and where society still held on. Until now, he had thought that the whispers were just the dreams of desperate people. Now, though, he wasn't so sure.

Rhodey was approaching the door, but he looked back at Clint and May. "Do you think - could the others have found this place?"

"I mean if we did, then surely," May replied. "They could be in there. Come on, try the handle!"

Rhodey met Clint's eyes. "What do you think?" he said. "I mean… this place - something's off."

"It's too quiet," Clint agreed. "We should play it safe."

May looked between them like they were crazy. "What? We're looking at someplace that might actually be safe for us - where Peter and the others might be hiding out - and you don't want to go inside?" She shook her head. "I mean, I'm all for safety, but look: the military made this place! There has to be something worthwhile inside!"

"I don't know," Clint said hesitantly, looking over his shoulder again. He just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched.

"Should we get back on the other side of those barricades?" Rhodey asked. "Or do you think we're safe here?"

"I don't understand!" May said desperately. "Why are we waiting?"

Clint stepped up to May and grabbed her shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. "Take a breath, May," he said firmly. "And listen. If this place was being used, surely we'd be able to hear it from here." He pointed at the sign. "And if this place has been left empty, then there's got to have been a good reason for it."

May's eyes were wide.

"We're both just as worried about the others as you," he said. "Okay?"

She swallowed, and nodded.

"Good." Clint let go of her shoulders, giving her one last look before moving away.

Rhodey was watching the two of them. "We should get off the street," he said. "Into one of these buildings, maybe."

Clint nodded. "We'll dry off and rest up as best we can, and then head out looking for everybody."

May sighed before reaching down and picking up a piece of rebar off the ground. She held it like a bat on her shoulder. "Let's go, then," she said, and turned to walk back up the street.

Clint and Rhodey glanced at each other once more before following after her, their own weapons in their hands.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit," Steve muttered as Bucky swayed against him. "You're okay."

Bucky's face was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat despite the morning chill. He held his arm, which had been padded and wrapped with clothes and rags to stem the bleeding, tight against his chest.

Tony looked on from where he sat on the other side of the shed. "It looks like he's gonna pass out."

Steve shot him a look. "Oh, yeah?" he said bitingly. "I wonder why."

Tony shrugged defensively. "I just don't think we're gonna be able to move out of here soon, is all."

"Are we -" Peter spoke up quietly from Tony's right. "Are we sure he's not gonna… you know…"

Steve's glare turned on the kid. "He's _fine."_

Tony looked over at Peter, whose eyes were wide. "Take a breath, G.I. Joe," he told Steve. "And it's not like we know for sure. He -"

"Yeah, that's true," Steve said. "We _don't_ know for sure. You could have just caused him a hell of a lot more pain than was necessary."

_"Or,_ I could have saved his life!" Tony argued, irritation rising in his chest. "You don't think a hand is worth him staying alive?"

Steve ground his teeth. "I just wish you'd explained yourself before you came at us with an axe."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Shouldn't we move?" Peter said, shifting towards Tony and wincing when the movement jostled his shoulder. "You know, go looking for everyone else? The rain's stopped."

"We can't go anywhere with Bucky like this," Steve said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. Bucky just moaned quietly.

Tony frowned. "Well, either way he's not gonna get better anytime soon. Maybe Peter and I should go out looking, and the two of you could stay -"

Peter shook his head at that. "I want to find May. And - and everyone else. But splitting up more just seems stupid."

"Alright then," Tony conceded, raising an eyebrow.

"You know," Peter continued, "He probably has a better chance of getting through this if we do find May. She's a nurse after all. She knows what to do for stuff like this."

Steve looked skeptical. "Your mom deal with a lot of amputations as a nurse?"

Peter frowned. "She knows more than you do," he shot back.

Steve let out a breath. "Sorry… sorry, kid. I'm just - tense, right now."

"We're all tense," Tony said. "But the kid's right. May might be the key to helping Bucky survive this."

Steve looked back at Bucky, who was watching them all through hooded eyes. After a moment, Bucky gave a short nod.

Steve turned back to Tony and Peter. "Alright," he said, his expression firm. "We'll move. Just… let's just give it until the sun's really up. Then we'll go."

Peter looked relieved, and Tony felt the same way. He wanted to get out there and find Pepper just as badly as Peter wanted to find May. There was no telling what had become of them, and of the others, while they had hunkered down in this shed.

Since they had a little time, Tony considered Peter more closely. He knew that the kid's shoulder must be hurting him. He could see where it was bleeding through his shirt. But they didn't have enough supplies around to deal with both Bucky's stump and Peter's shoulder. Plus, Tony felt terrible that he had been the one to cause the injury. Bucky's arm he could defend, but what happened to Peter shouldn't have happened.

"You okay, kid?" Tony asked.

Peter looked over and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'm fine. Just… worried."

"I know," Tony said. "Me too. But… we'll find them."

Peter nodded, though his expression betrayed the doubt he must be feeling. "Right. We'll find them."

* * *

On the other side of town, Pepper walked beside Natasha, their footsteps light on the wet concrete of the road. The sun was rising in the sky, but despite the warm light Pepper still felt chilled to the bone.

The night that they had somehow survived had been horrific. Pepper was still shaking slightly, her arms crossed tight across her chest. Every sound had her eyes flicking around to look. At least the light was chasing away the shadows that, during the night, had all seemed to hold walkers.

Natasha looked just as uncomfortable - at least as well as Pepper could tell; she was still learning how to read the woman. One hand held her gun in a white knuckle grip, and the other was curled into a fist around the strap of the bag over her shoulder. Her lips were pressed into a tight line, and her gaze looked dark and dangerous.

They still hadn't run into anyone else. They hadn't seen Tony, or Rhodey or Clint - or anyone else for that matter. Pepper's heart ached in worry for the others. She knew from experience that anything could have happened to them. She just hoped for now that they were still alive. Her heart wouldn't let her think they were otherwise. Not yet.

"There," Natasha said, her voice startling Pepper. "Look."

Pepper looked where the other woman was pointing, and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What is that?" she asked.

"It's a barricade," Natasha said simply. She looked over at Pepper. "That means there must be something worth protecting behind it."

Pepper felt hope flutter in her chest. "You think the others could be back there? That they've found this place?"

Natasha nodded. "Whether they have by now or not - they will. We were headed straight for this town."

She let out a deep breath, some of her anxiety leaving her. "Okay," she said. "Let's get over this thing."

They made short work of the barricade. It was kind of loose and unstable, but the two of them were able to step lightly enough that it wasn't a problem.

On the other side of the barricade, Natasha looked around quickly before directing Pepper into a doorway. "Sit," she told Pepper, pointing at a set of stairs and dropping her bag on the ground.

Confused, Pepper did as she said and slowly lowered herself onto a step. "What? Did you see something?"

Natasha was looking back out around the corner onto the street. She turned back to Pepper and shook her head. "It's quiet," she said, frowning. "And it's clean."

"Clean?" Pepper repeated, confused. "Is that - you make that sound like it's a bad thing."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "It is when everywhere else on earth is covered in a layer of trash and walker guts."

"Well there must be people in here. Who else would have made a barricade like that? Maybe this is a government thing," Pepper said hopefully. She started to get back up on her feet, wincing at the stretch in her tired muscles.

Natasha spun around and pushed her back onto the stair.

Pepper flashed her an annoyed look. "What are you doing?"

"Your forehead," Natasha said, sliding her gun into the waistband of her pants. "It doesn't look good. Can I just make sure you're not going to fall over on me anytime soon?"

Pepper frowned, and reached a hand up to her forehead. It came back red. "Oh," she said, blinking. Her brow had been hurting, but she hadn't realized it was bleeding. "I - I don't think it's bad."

"Let me just clean it off, while I have the chance," Natasha replied, reaching for the bag and unzipping it. "We don't know what we're gonna find in there." She rooted around in the bag and pulled out some water and a shirt.

Pepper leaned her head back as Natasha poured a thin stream of water over her forehead. She winced when the cool liquid hit the cut. It stung, but she knew it was better than letting it fester, so she stayed quiet about it.

Instead she asked, "Are you worried?" It might have been a stupid question, but she just wanted to distract herself.

Natasha paused for a moment before reaching up with the t-shirt to pat off the wound. "Yes and no," she said. "For May and Peter, yeah. But everyone else… they can take care of themselves."

"What… what about Clint?" Pepper said.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "What about him? And keep your head still."

Pepper shrugged, but did as she said. "Well, I can tell you care about him."

"We've known each other a long time," Natasha said. "I know he can look after himself."

"Well… you thought he was dead before," she pointed out.

Natasha shot her a look that was half annoyed and half amused. "Are you trying to make me anxious or something?"

"Sorry," Pepper said quickly. "I'm just projecting, I guess."

Natasha wet the shirt again and kept wiping off the wound. "It's okay," she said. Then she frowned. "What, was there a time you thought Tony was dead?"

"Not like that. But… we did get separated once before. For a few days. I was sure I'd never see him again." Pepper let out a sigh. "It feels the same now."

Natasha pulled back and knelt to put the stuff back in her bag. "If I've learned anything recently, it's that you shouldn't underestimate people." She stuck out a hand and helped Pepper to her feet. "Now come on, let's go find them."

Pepper let herself smile a little. Natasha was right. There was no need to worry unnecessarily. She would start worrying when there was some evidence for a bad thing happening.

They turned together to walk back out onto the street. What they were faced with made Pepper freeze.

There were four men facing them, wearing riot gear and pointing automatic rifles at them. "Don't move, assholes!" the one on the right said in a deep voice, shifting his gun between the two of them.

Natasha pulled out her gun in a flash, and pointed it towards them. "What the fuck is this?" she said.

Pepper had her arms raised already, her eyes wide. "What's going on? Who are you?"

"Are you infected?" the same man with the deep voice said.

Pepper shook her head quickly. "No - no, we're not."

"What about your head?"

"That's nothing," Natasha said. "Now can you explain what's going on?"

The man on the right looked between them. "You're trespassing on military property. Now lower your weapon."

Pepper frowned. Military? What was going on here?

"Not a chance, dickhead." Natasha still had her gun raised. "Now, why don't you let me talk to whoever's in charge here? I'm sure we can figure this out."

An imposing figure stepped out from behind the line. His gun rested in his hand, and he looked straight at Natasha, a challenging smirk on his face. "That'd be me."

Natasha locked eyes with the man, let out a long sigh and, to Pepper's shock, slowly raised her arms. "Ah, _fuck."_

* * *

A/N: Welcome back, folks! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, life was a bitch even before this whole coronavirus madness. But hopefully now I'll have a little more time to write. Either way, comments and kudos fuel me! I can't wait to hear what you all think about this new chapter, since I'm not too sure about it.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:

Last time on A Scared New World:

The group was separated by a terrible storm, and have made their way to town in small groups. A walker bite forced Tony to chop off Bucky's hand, and Pepper and Natasha were cornered by an aggressive group of soldiers. Things are looking bleak.

* * *

Rhodey sat in a chair by the window, his hand gripping his knife as he looked down at the street. As he watched, a gust of wind picked up a few leaves and sent them swirling through the air. It was getting late now, and the light was dimming, the sun going down behind the buildings across the street.

He, Clint and May had found their way into this abandoned apartment hours ago, and had hunkered down to rest. At first, it seemed like May would never get to sleep, but eventually she managed to relax and close her eyes. Maybe it was that she was still getting back to full strength after her illness, but even in sleep she looked exhausted.

Clint had taken first watch, but he had just switched with Rhodey not too long ago so he could get some rest for himself. Now Rhodey was looking down at the street for himself.

In the time that he'd been sitting there, he hadn't seen a thing. That should have been a good thing, but somehow it bothered him. Usually on watch you'd see at least one wandering walker. The street below seemed unnaturally abandoned.

Rhodey sighed and looked over at May and Clint, who were sleeping on the couch and the floor respectively. He hoped that they woke up soon. If they didn't, he'd have to wake them himself. He wanted Clint to get his rest, but at the same time he didn't want to be in this town anymore. Something was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he didn't even really have hair there.

He had been hopeful that they'd find something good in this town, or at least find Tony and the others, but now he was wishing that they'd all stayed at that cabin in the woods.

Rhodey chuckled despite himself. Man, but oh how things had changed.

He did wonder sometimes why they kept moving so much. It would be nice to hunker down and find some place stable to just stay. But there was always something keeping them moving - a walker attack, food, people… fear.

Rhodey bit the inside of his cheek as he leaned into his chair and turned to look back out the window.

What he saw made him blink, and then lean forwards suddenly, his eyes wide and his heart beating in his chest.

"Oh, my god," he breathed.

That was Pepper down there! And Natasha!

They were being pushed in the direction of the gates they had seen that morning, their hands held high above their heads and guns pointed at their backs.

"Clint!" Rhodey hissed. "Clint!"

He moved over to shake his friend, and Clint came awake with a gasp. Clint had always been quick to awareness, and it was no different now. He studied Rhodey's face for only a moment before he said, "What is it?"

"Get up," Rhodey said, voice low. "It's Pepper and Natasha. They're outside."

Clint's eyes widened, and he scrambled to his feet. "What?" he exclaimed.

Rhodey held him back. "Just… quiet. There's some other people out there too. It doesn't look good."

Clint nodded and they stalked quickly to the window before looking out, hiding their bodies behind the walls on either side.

The group was almost right below them now, and Rhodey felt anger rise in his chest as he saw one of the guards (at least they looked like guards) try and trip Pepper. She stumbled, but thankfully was able to keep her feet.

"Oh, fuck me," Clint breathed.

Rhodey couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, this does not look good. Who are those people?"

Clint was still looking down at Pepper and Natasha, seemingly unaware that Rhodey had spoken. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," he growled.

Rhodey snapped his gaze to his friend with the sudden feeling that Clint somehow knew more about what was going on then he did. "What?" he said.

Clint glanced at Rhodey. There was anger in his gaze, and something else as well - fear? After a moment's pause, he revealed, "I know that guy. The one up front. And he's not good news."

Rhodey hadn't bothered to study any one man too closely. Now he looked at the man in front - a tall, broad shouldered guy wearing dark clothes. His expression looked stony, and he was holding a large gun in his hands.

"Seriously?" Rhodey said, squinting. How many damn people did Clint know? "Who is he?"

"Oh, my god," a voice behind them said, and Rhodey turned to see that May had woken and gotten up to look through the window. She crouched down low to avoid being seen, her eyes wide and scared.

None of them moved. Rhodey knew that whatever they did wouldn't be enough to get Pepper and Natasha away from those guys without also getting them shot. So for now, no matter how infuriating it was, they would have to stay put.

Clint shook his head and muttered to himself, "He fucking would have survived. Fuck."

As they watched, Pepper and Natasha were walked forwards towards the gates. One of the guards brought out a key and unlocked the padlock on the door. It swung open, and Rhodey squinted to see anything beyond the fence. But because of the afternoon shadows he couldn't make anything out. The group made it through the door and it closed behind them with a soft clang.

"Shit," Rhodey cursed, his voice louder now that they were gone. "This is not good. This is… fuck." He turned to Clint. "What is this? Who the hell is that?"

"I don't know what this is, but I know that man." Clint's expression was stony. "He's dangerous, and smart. Not to mention fucking crazy."

"Crazy?" May said, looking concerned. "How do you know him?"

Clint shook his head. "It doesn't matter," he dismissed. "What matters is that we get Nat and Pepper out of there as soon as possible."

"Um… 'doesn't matter?'" Rhodey frowned. "Clint, man - I think it matters. You gotta tell us what you know about this guy."

"It's not important how I know him," Clint snapped, sounding frustrated. "Just… look, he's someone that I know from before. We… we worked together."

"Worked together?" Rhodey repeated, confused. What kind of work had Clint been doing that he got that sort of impression from this guy?"

"What's his name?" May asked.

Clint let out a short breath, his face resigned. And then he told them.

* * *

Tony stood on one side of Bucky, helping Steve support his weight and keep him moving. They'd been moving off and on all day, stopping whenever Bucky needed to. He was still bleeding steadily from the stump on the end of his arm. But hey, he wasn't a walker. These days, you had to count your blessings.

Peter was walking a little ahead of them, looking out for danger through the trees. They had been moving infuriatingly slowly, but it looked like they might be coming up on the town now, since the trees were thinning out.

Bucky groaned beside him, and tripped over his own feet.

"We should stop," Steve said, glancing over at Tony.

Tony couldn't help but let out a huff of irritation. "We've only been going for like fifteen minutes," he said.

"And we should stop," Steve replied firmly.

Bucky swallowed roughly. "I - I'm good. We can keep going."

Steve frowned. "Shut up, Bucky. You're not good."

"You can say that again," Tony muttered, raising his eyebrows.

Steve must have heard, because he snapped, "You want me to remind you why we're in this mess?"

Tony scoffed incredulously. "Seriously? You want to come at me again for saving your friend? Go right ahead. All I'm saying is that if we don't keep moving, we're never gonna make it anywhere!"

"Guys -" Bucky weakly tried to interject.

But Tony and Steve just talked over him, bickering.

Suddenly Peter's voice snapped through the air. "Would you guys cut it out?"

Tony looked up to see that Peter had turned around to look at them, an annoyed expression on his face and his hands clenched at his sides.

"You arguing isn't helping anybody. It's not helping Bucky. And it's getting annoying! So… stop!" Peter exclaimed. Then, having finished, he paused awkwardly for a moment before turning back around and stomping forwards.

Tony's eyebrows were halfway up his forehead. He turned to look at Steve, and the other man looked just as surprised as him.

Bucky just chuckled weakly between them. "Thank god someone said it," he muttered.

"Do you need to stop?" Steve asked him. "Or can you keep going?"

Bucky swallowed. "I think… I think I can keep going. I don't think we have a choice, anyway. But the next time I pass out I'd like to know I won't be gnawed on again."

"You and me both," said Steve. "Okay, let's keep going. Lean on us as much as you need to."

Bucky took him up on that offer, and Tony stumbled a little with the added weight.

Thankfully, they didn't have to make it much farther, because Peter came running back to them, his eyes bright.

"What is it?" Tony said sharply, reaching for his knife. "Is it walkers?"

Peter shook his head, smiling. "We made it. The town's up ahead."

"Oh, thank god," Steve said, obviously relieved. "You hear that, Buck? Just a little further."

Bucky nodded listlessly.

"Did you see anybody?" Tony asked Peter.

"No," Peter said. "But there's something in the road, I don't really know what it is."

"What?" Tony said, confused. But as they made it over the next hill, he realized what Peter was talking about. They'd broken onto the road, and to the left of them was what looked like a blockade to keep walkers out.

"There's buildings on the other side," Peter was saying. "They've probably got food, and maybe -"

He broke off, but Tony understood. Maybe the others were there. It felt wrong to say it aloud, like maybe they'd jinx it.

They made it to the barrier, but as soon as they started to try and move over it there was trouble. It was obvious that Bucky was too weak to make it over on his feet. They could try to carry him, but it would be awkward as hell.

Eventually, white faced and sweaty, Bucky's knees buckled beneath him, and they were forced to lower him to the ground.

Steve looked to Tony. "What do we do?" he said. "Is there - is there something we can use to carry him?"

Tony was looking around. This whole place was making him uneasy. The sun was setting, and it was difficult to see far. They'd yet to see signs of any walkers or people. The streets were eerily empty - too empty to be natural. It was obvious that there had been a secured place here once, but was it still secure now? Were they walking into walker infested territory?

What he did spy was a covered doorway, and he pointed to it. "Let's just get him over there," he said. "Then we'll talk. Peter, stick close."

Peter was halfway up the barrier, looking over it to the other side, but he scrambled back down to meet them in the doorway. "What do we do?" he asked Tony. "This place is weird."

Tony nodded at him. "Yeah, I'm getting a weird feeling, too. But I don't think we really have a choice other than to look around. We need food, and we need shelter. This isn't enough," he said, gesturing around.

Steve was hovering over Bucky, who by the looks of it had passed out completely. He had a hand at his throat, measuring his pulse, and looked concerned.

"How is he?" Peter asked.

Steve looked up and shook his head. "He's not doing good," he said. "He's lost a lot of blood, and we've been walking all day. I don't know if he has any energy left."

Tony saw Peter look back at the barrier, and then at him, a thoughtful look on his face.

"What?" Tony said. "What are you thinking?"

Peter looked surprised at the question, but he recovered quickly. "I - I think we should go over and check it out. See if there's food or water or anything."

"I don't know," Steve said hesitantly. "I don't like the idea of splitting up any more. If you two get into trouble, I won't be able to help."

Tony looked back at Peter, whose expression was determined. "No, he's right," he told Steve. "Bucky can't move over this barrier. We'll just have to go over and come back with supplies."

Steve looked for a moment like he wanted to argue, but the fight drained out of him as he turned back to Bucky. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll try my best not to move from here. Just… be quick."

Tony nodded, putting a hand on Peter's back to guide him out of the doorway. "We'll see you back here soon."

"Good luck."

There was barely any light left in the sky, but Tony was grateful for what light they did have as they crossed over the barrier. Doing it blind would have been near impossible, what with all the strange bits balanced and poking out everywhere.

Eventually, and not quietly enough in Tony's opinion, they made it to the other side of the barrier.

This side of the street looked much the same - still eerily clean and empty. The windows of the buildings were empty, though some were boarded up.

Peter was a few steps in front of him as they turned the corner onto the next street.

"Look," Peter whispered, pointing ahead. "Look, I think that's a fence."

Tony squinted into the darkness, and could barely make it out. "What…" he muttered, confused. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the storefronts to either side of them. Several of them looked completely boarded up, but there were a few that probably wouldn't be too hard to break into. And with luck, there would be water and food.

But suddenly Peter's voice rang out, much louder than before. "Shit!" he cursed, and Tony snapped to look at him as he scrambled backwards.

"What is it?" Tony hissed, running forwards towards the kid, and pushing him behind himself. There was nothing in sight. "What -"

Tony spotted something stuck in the ground right in front of where Peter had been walking. He reached forwards and wrapped a hand around it before pulling it out of the ground.

An arrow.

Excitement flared up. This wasn't just any arrow. This was -

"Tony, look!" Peter whispered, pointing upwards at a window on the second level.

Tony grinned.

* * *

"Man, it's so good to see you," Tony said to Clint as they walked up the stairs. "Is… who's with you?" he asked. He both desperately wanted to hear the answer and was terrified of it.

Clint looked over his shoulder at him. "Pepper's not here," he said. "But I do have news on her."

Tony's heart stopped, and he grasped for balance on the wall, immediately assuming the worst.

"No!" Clint reassured quickly. "She's not - she's not dead," he said.

Tony felt relief, and then confusion. "Then what -"

"I'll explain everything in a second," he said, and pushed open a door to let them into where they had been hiding out.

Tony was buoyed further as he saw Rhodey, and there was -

"May!" Peter pushed past Tony and ran for his aunt. The two of them hugged each other tightly, May tucking her nephew's head into her chest. Tony saw her expression crumple in relief.

"Thank god," May breathed. "Oh, thank god."

Tony smiled softly at the two of them, and then turned to Clint and Rhodey. "Steve and Bucky are alive," he said quickly. "But Bucky's not doing so good."

"What does that mean?" Rhodey asked. "Is he hurt, or...?"

"He…" Tony let out a breath. "Well, he was bit."

"Shit," Clint said, running a hand through his hair.

Tony held up his hands. "But it's not - he's not turning. He got bit in the hand, and I chopped it off."

He'd been trying to sound reassuring, but from the way Rhodey's eyes bugged out he probably hadn't been successful.

"What?" Rhodey hissed. "Holy fuck, Tony."

Tony swallowed. "Yeah. He - he's lost a lot of blood. We had to leave him on the other side of the barrier with Steve."

"But - that worked?" Clint said, sounding doubtful. "When was he bitten?"

"Last night. So I mean, it could just be happening slower, but he should have turned by now. And he's weak, but not the same way that people are when they get bit."

"We need to go and get them," Peter said, and then he looked around, as if noticing for the first time that people were missing. "But wait - where's Nat?" he asked May. "And… and Pepper?"

"They're alive," May said. "But…" she looked up at Clint. "It's complicated."

Tony frowned. "Complicated? What the hell does that mean? Where are they? Did you see them?"

Clint nodded. "You saw that fence down the street, right?"

Tony nodded. "What is it? Is this a safe zone?"

"We don't really know," said Rhodey. "The sign says it's a military zone, but -"

"But we don't know who's really in there," Clint finished. "But Pepper and Nat - they've been captured."

Tony's heart raced in his chest. "Captured? What? By who? What's going on?"

Rhodey put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "Relax, man. We're working on a plan."

"The man who took them, he's someone that I know from - from before," Clint said.

"Who?" Tony said, starting to feel desperate now. He wanted Pepper here with him. He wanted to know that she was safe. To hear this - he didn't understand how this had happened, or what was happening really.

Clint turned to look at him and said levelly, "His name's Nick Fury."

* * *

A/N: Hey, everybody. Sorry it's been so long. Turns out this quarantine thing has been terrible for my mental health, so I haven't been writing as much as I'd like. But I hope y'all enjoyed this. Let me know what you think is gonna happen! And don't worry, I'm not planning on abandoning this story. Hope y'all and your loved ones are safe out there!


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